Crimson Chronicles

Game 2 at Brown (9/27/08):

The Crimson opened the Ivy League portion of their schedule by losing to Brown 24-22 on a dreary, rainy afternoon in Providence. Harvard scored on their first possession as Pizzotti connected with Matt Luft on a 53-yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt failed and the Crimson were up 6-0. On Brown’s ensuing possession, they marched to Harvard’s 14 before Andrew Berry intercepted Dougherty’s pass at the 6. As the first quarter was coming to a close, Pizzotti hit on two long passes (Luft for 34 and Jason Miller for 26) to put the ball on Brown’s 17 to open the second quarter. On the first play, Pizzotti found Gino Gordon who rumbled into the end zone, and with the extra point it was 13-0 Harvard. Starting from their 25, Dougherty effectively moved the ball into Harvard territory (aided and abetted by a crucial pass interference call) before finding Buddy Farnham on a 25-yard touchdown pass. After fumbling the kickoff, Harvard took over on the next play when Derrick Barker intercepted Dougherty’s pass at the 3. Gino Gordon carried up the middle on the first play of the drive, but he fumbled giving Brown the football at Harvard’s 13. After initially going backwards on a holding call, Dougherty eventually connected with Bobby Sewall to the 3, and Sewall ran it in from there on the next play, the Crimson were now down, 14-13. By this time, the heavy rain had made conditions on the field very tricky.

Harvard opened the third quarter with another fumble on their 34, but Brown couldn’t move the ball on a fourth-and-six and the Crimson took over on downs. After a first down, the drive stalled and Harvard punted away. After two changes of possession, Brown took over at their 22 midway through the quarter. On third and four at the 28, Dougherty connected with Sewall on a 38-yard pass that brought the ball to Harvard’s 34. Three plays later, Dougherty connected with Farnham on a 23-yard pass play and Brown was up 21-13. Starting at their 38, Pizzotti moved the ball into Brown territory on three pass completions (Luft for 15 and 6, Iannuzzi for 18). The drive stalled at the 9 and Patrick Long hit a 27-yard field goal to make it 21-16 as the third quarter came to a close.

Moving into the fourth quarter, Dougherty moved the Brown offense from the 20 to the 41, before being intercepted by Brenton Bryant, but Brown retained possession as the result of an offside call against Harvard (aarrgh!!) Dougherty mixed the pass game with effective runs by Derreck Knight and Sewall taking the ball to Harvard’s 22 where Robert Renney connected on a 38-yard field goal to put Brown up 24-16. The 13-play drive chewed up 6:31 off the clock. After two changes of possession, the Crimson got back the ball at their 25 with three minutes remaining in the game. Pizzotti took to the air with a series of short passes that moved the ball to Brown’s 3 with 1:10 left on the clock. Pizzotti stepped out in favor of Liam O’Brien, who connected with Luft on a pass to bring the Crimson to within two. Coach Murphy naturally went for two, but Ben Jenkins failed to cross the goal line and the score remained 24-22 Brown. Harvard attempted an on-sides kick, but Brown recovered and sat on the clock until time expired. Between the rain, turnovers and untimely penalties, it was an extremely frustrating afternoon for the Crimson.