Columbia received another big game from running back Lou Isringhaus and its defense stepped it up in the second half as the Eagles flew past Carlyle on Friday night, 38-19.

Isringhaus, the Republic-Times Athlete of the Week after scoring three touchdowns last Friday, finished with 238 yards rushing on 23 carries and a touchdown, plus 74 yards receiving and another touchdown against the Indians.

“I think tonight has been his best game so far,” Columbia head coach Scott Horner said of his go-to back. “He kind of ran with a little chip on his shoulder and ran with some power.”

It was teammate Kenny Fields who provided the offensive spark early. His 19-yard touchdown run with five minutes left in the first quarter put the Eagles up 7-0.

The Indians answered quickly on a 66-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Tommy Cummins to Adam Alexander to tie it.

Highlighted by a 55-yard kickoff return by Fields, the Eagles went up again after quarterback Jacob Hill ran in from 20 yards out at 3:35 of the first quarter.

Carlyle countered again on another Cummins-to-Alexander connection of 73 yards, and a failed extra point made it 14-13.

Following a missed 30-yard field goal attempt by Columbia’s Greg Long, Carlyle dialed up another Cummins-to-Alexander bomb of 31 yards to the 1-yard line. Alex Velazquez punched it in for the short touchdown run to put the Indians up 19-14 at 8:41 in the second quarter.

That was all the scoring Carlyle could muster as Columbia’s defense tightened the rest of the way.

Hill hit Isringhaus on a short slant pattern, and Isringhaus sprinted down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown at 7:49 in the second for a 21-19 Eagles lead.

Long connected on a big 42-yard field goal early in the third quarter to give Columbia some breathing room at 24-19.

Hill added a 3-yard TD run and Isringhaus tacked on a 50-yard TD run of his own in the fourth quarter as the Eagles rolled to a homecoming game win in front of the hometown faithful.

“You have to give kudos to our defense. To give up the big plays that we did early, they hung in there and fought hard,” Horner said.

The Eagles improved to 4-1 with the victory.