On Saturday afternoon, a roaring Bears crowd celebrated the football team’s (3-6, 2-4 Ivy) 24 seniors and seven fifth-years as they entered Brown Stadium for the final time in their collegiate careers. But in their senior-day sendoff against Columbia (6-3, 4-2 Ivy), the Bears suffered a crushing 21-12 loss.
“It’s hard to put into words. This is one of the best groups I have ever coached and it kills me to have the record that we do,” Head Coach James Perry ’00 said about the senior class in an interview with The Herald. “They’re great kids, they’re terrific players, they’re working their butts off.”
“This senior class has meant a lot to the program,” said cornerback Nick Hudson ’26, who leads the Ivy League in pass breakups with 13. “They have raised the standard for all of us younger players, not only on the gridiron but off of the field as well.”
Coming off a 56-34 loss to Yale last week, the Bears’ defense entered the Columbia match-up with a chip on their shoulder. In their first appearance, the defense kept a rolling Columbia offense out of the end zone, forcing three straight incompletions from the five-yard line. After an offsides penalty on the Bears gave the Lions a final shot from two yards out, a clutch pass break-up by Hudson put an end to the 73-yard drive.
“The entire defense took it upon ourselves to play complementary football,” Hudson wrote. We wanted to “do our jobs at maximum effort on every snap, and when we were given the opportunity to make a play, we wanted to take advantage of it.”
As the quarter continued, both teams traded possessions to conclude the first fifteen minutes 0-0 with shut-out play from both defensive sides.
“Our defensive effort was incredible today,” Perry said. After last week’s loss to Yale, “we coached them hard this week, and to see them respond with such an excellent defensive effort against a very good team is something we can hopefully build on next week.”
By the game’s conclusion, Brown’s defense had managed to hold Columbia scoreless on seven separate drives.
But “excellent defensive efforts” need to be complimented by points scored, and unfortunately for the Bears, the offense struggled to find the end zone through the first two quarters.
Columbia found its stride with two minutes to go in the half. Looking down the left sideline, Columbia’s quarterback Caleb Sanchez connected with receiver Bryson Canty for a 55-yard touchdown strike. For the rest of the game, Canty continued to haunt the defense, reeling in six receptions for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
With 14 seconds left in the first half, the Bears received a final shot. After an Austin Alley ’25 punt deflected off a Columbia defender, Caleb Moorhead ’25 recovered the ball at Columbia’s 30-yard line, turning a would-be turnover into a new possession. Leading the offense was James Murphy ’27, who was subbed in after Willcox threw his twelfth interception of the season early in the second quarter. Connecting with Mark Mahoney ’24.5 for ten yards, Murphy’s offense set up a 38-yard field goal attempt for Christopher Maron ’25. With time expiring, the ball split the uprights and the Bears entered the locker room down 7-3.
Though Brown received the opening kickoff after halftime, Columbia scored first. With the Bears looking to stop the Lions’ momentum, Columbia’s Joshua Powell carried a fake punt for 28 yards to move the chains. Capitalizing on the stolen possession, Columbia surged to the end zone in only two plays, extending their lead to 14-3 on a 12-yard receiving touchdown by Jordan Kelly.
As the Bears continued their search for the right quarterback, with Murphy and Willcox trading starts, the Lions found their rhythm. Blowing past his defenders, Canty scored on a 52-yard catch and run to push Columbia’s lead to 21-3.
With less than twelve minutes remaining, the Bears tried to stage a comeback. Relying heavily on the passing game, the offense — now led by Willcox again — drove 72 yards downfield in thirteen plays. Over the course of the drive, Willcox breached 7,000 career passing yards and Mahoney reeled in his 100th career reception. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out just shy of the red zone, and the team settled for a field goal.
Making quick work of Columbia, the Bears defense gave the offense another shot with 4:43 remaining in the game. Galvanized by a 40-yard reception by Matt Childs ’28, Bruno surged to the goal line. From there, Ty Pezza ’26 did the rest, capping the drive off with his first career touchdown reception to bring the score to 21-12. But the Bears were unable to score on their two-point conversion attempt, keeping it a two-possession game.
With 1:36 left on the clock, the Bears attempted an onsides kick. But as Columbia recovered the ball and subsequently moved the sticks, time expired and the senior-day match-up ended in the Lions’ favor.
“We knew statistically how strong they were,” Perry concluded. “They proved to be every bit of it.”
The football team will play its final game of the season next week in Hanover, New Hampshire. The season finale against Dartmouth will begin at 12 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
“Going into week 10, it’s the same approach as what it’s been since the beginning of the season,” Hudson finished. We will “focus on the fundamentals of the game, playing fast, sticking together as a team and fighting to the finish.”
Lydell Dyer is a Senior Staff Writer for the sports section. A sophomore hailing from Bonn, Germany, Lydell is studying nonfiction English and political science, and if he's not off "making words sound pretty," you can find him lifting heavy circles at the Nelson.
