Crimson Chronicles

Game 1 at Holy Cross (9/17/11):

The 138th season of Harvard Football kicked off at Fitton Field in Worcester as the Crimson faced the Crusaders of Holy Cross. The Crimson had some injury/illness issues on the right side of the O-Line that would make things difficult. Collie Winters returns at quarterback and Trevor Scales returns as the feature back, replacing the graduated Gino Gordon.

The Crimson won the toss and elected to defer until the second half. The Crusaders started out at their 37. After Eddie Houghton picked up a quick first down, Reggie Woods moved the ball into Harvard territory. The drive stalled out at the 46 and Corey Page punted away. Harvard’s Brian Owusu fumbled the punt at the 13 and HC’s Eddie Houghton returned the ball to the 3. The Crimson defense held and the Crusaders had to settle for a short field goal by John Macomber to take an early 3-0 lead. The Crimson started out their initial drive at the 41. Winters combined short passes and rushes by Treavor Scales to move the ball into HC’s side of the field. From the 42, Winters hit Cameron Brate on a 26-yard gain. From the 16, Winters hit Chris Lorditch down to the 5. On second and goal, Winters rushed up the middle for the touchdown and the Crimson took a 7-3 lead. The Crusaders went three n’ out on their next drive and punted away. The Crimson started out at their 28. Scales rushed for 9 and then Winters hit Lorditch for 5. On second and 7 from the 45, Winters connected with Brate for 25, After a holding penalty set the ball back, Winters hit Alex Sarkisian at the 15.

Moving into the second quarter, Scales rushed for 8 and then Winters hit Kyle Juszczyk in the right corner of the end zone for the score and the Crimson went up 14-3. Things were looking good for Harvard, right? Think again. Two plays into the Crusaders’ next drive, Ryan Taggart hit Josh Hauser on a 68-yard pass and run play for the touchdown to make it 14-10. The Crusaders scored again on their next drive as Harvard turned the ball over on downs at the 40. Taggart hit Jon Smith for 20, and then to Mike Fess for 32. From the 8, Houghton rushed down to the 1 and Taggart took it in from there to make 17-10. The Crimson moved the ball to midfield on their next drive before having to punt away. The Crusaders started out at their 8 and moved the ball to the 20, where Taggart hit Fess on a 54-yard catch and run to Harvard’s 26. Taggart then found Charles McCall at the 10, where the Crimson held and Macomber kicked another short field goal to make it 20-10.

The Crimson again were able to move the ball to midfield on the opening drive of the second half before stalling out and punting away. On the Crusaders’ opening drive, they moved the ball all the way to Harvard’s 26, where they went for it on fourth and 4. Taggart’s pass fell incomplete and the Crimson took over on downs. The ensuing drive went backwards and they punted out. Starting at the 45, Taggart was able to move the offense down to the 20, where Macomber kicked a field goal to make it 23-10. Seit Smith had a great return of the kickoff, ripping up the sideline all the way to midfield. Winters smartly moved the ball downfield on a series of short passes to Lorditch and rushes by Scales.

Ultimately, the Crimson had the ball at HC’s 3 where Winters threw a pass that was intercepted by Andrew Zitnik, who took the ball to the house to make it 30-10 HC. The Crimson got the ball back early in the fourth quarter and this time, Sarkisian caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Winters. The Crimson elected to go for two and Winters rushed in from the 3 to make it 30-18. The Crusaders started out their next drive at the 26 and moved the ball all the way to Harvard’s 19 on a series of short passes and rushes. Macomber’s field goal attempt went wide left and the Crimson had a breath of life late in the quarter. Winters threw three incompletions and the Crimson punted out again. Harvard got the ball back with two minutes left on the clock at their 12 and hit Lorditch for 17. After Scales rushed for 7, Winters went back to Lorditch for 12, and then to Sarkisian for 7. On fourth and 8 from HC’s 45, Winters’ pass was picked off by Chandler Fenner and that was that.

The Crimson came into this game knowing that HC was going to be a tough opponenr, but they committed a number of critical errors, turnovers and penalties that turned the tide in the Crusaders’ favor.