Crimson Chronicles:

Game 2 v. Brown Bears (9/24/11):

On a rainy Saturday night at the Stadium, the Crimson opened the Ivy League portion of their schedule with a date with Brown. The Crimson won the toss and elected to defer until the second half. On Brown’s first possession, they moved the ball to the 47 on a 20-yard pass play from Newhall-Caballe to Mark Kachmar, but the drive stalled there and the Bears punted out. The Crimson started out their first drive at the 9 and Treavor Scales rushed for 16 on two straight carries. They were able to move the ball out to the 31 before punting away. The Crimson scored on their next drive as Colton Chapple hit Cameron Brate on a 31-yard pass play. A personal foul leveled against Brown moved the ball to Brown’s 13. From there, Chapple connected with Kyle Juszczyk for 7 and then Chapple scrambled down to the 1. Chapple then went in on the quarterback keeper for the touchdown. The Bears then had great field position on their next drive and advanced the ball to Harvard’s 32 before the drive stalled and Nathan Lovett punted into the end zone for a touchback. Harvard almost ran into big trouble on the next drive as Chapple’s pass on first down was intercepted by Matt Billeci but a roughing the passer call against ‘s Brett Wyman gave Harvard the ball back. From the 35, Chapple hit Alex Sarkisian for 12 and then Scales ripped up the middle for 25 down to Brown’s 28.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Crimson moved the ball to the 20. From there, Chapple hit Brate in the end zone and the Crimson were ahead 14-0. On Brown’s next possession, Kachmar fumbled at the 45 and it was recovered by Harvard’s Brian Owusu. The Crimson couldn’t advance the ball much further and punted away. Brown was able to take advantage of a roughing the passer penalty against John Lyon to move the ball to Harvard’s 26. Newhall-Caballe hit Jimmy Saros for 17 but his third down pass was intercepted by Dan Minamide in the end zone for the touchback. The Crimson went three n’ out on their next drive and AJ Cruz had a fine return of Dombrowksi’s punt, returning it to Harvard’s 47. The Bears were able to move the ball down to the 33 where they elected to go for a first down on fourth-and-6. Newhall-Caballe was sacked for a loss of 9 by Bob Schneider. Late in the quarter, Chapple was able to move the offense into Brown’s end of the field where he hit Adam Chrissis on a 22-yard catch and run down to the 1 but a holding call set the ball back. Chapple took a couple of shots at the end zone but time expired in the half.

The Crimson had the ball to open the second half but Chapple was intercepted by Emory Polley at midfield. The Bears then went three n’ out on their next drive. After the Crimson had two series in which they punted away, the Bears got the ball back midway through the third quarter at the 43. From there, Newhall-Caballe completed a pass to Nicholas Faber for 14 and then Kachmar rushed for a decent gain. From the 30, Newhall-Caballe found Tell Lundevall in the end zone and the Bears were within a touchdown at 14-7. Late in the quarter, Brown regained possession at their 38. Newhall-Caballe completed two straight passes to Lundevall and Tounkara-Kone to move the ball into Harvard’s end of the field.

Moving into the fourth quarter, Brown had the ball at the Harvard 32. A pass interference call on Matthew Hanson moved the ball down to the 9. Brown ultimately moved the ball down to the 1 where, on third and goal, Kachmar fumbled trying to make it into the end zone and Zach Hodges recovered at the goal line in a huge turnover. After the ball changed hands, Harvard got the ball back at their 10. Chapple was able to move the offense out to the 37 on a series of short passes and a 10-yard scramble. After a seven-yard gain on a completion to Brate, Chapple connected with Chrissis on a 56-yard touchdown strike to put the Crimson ahead 21-7. On Brown’s next possession, Newhall-Caballe was sacked by Jake Boy and fumbled the ball into the hands of Lyon at Brown’s 30. The Crimson moved the ball down to the 14, where David Mothander kicked a 31-yard field goal through the raindrops to make it 24-7. Brown turned over the ball again on their next possession as Newhall-Caballe’s pass was intercepted by Scheider at the 21. Late in the quarter, the Crimson were content to run the ball and grind down the clock, taking the ball to the 16 where they turned it over on downs. With less than two minutes remaining, the Bears were in desperation mode. After Kachmar picked up a long gain down to Harvard’s 41, Newhall-Caballe threw two incompletions. Facing a fourth and 5 in the waning seconds, Newhall-Caballe hit Saros short of the first down and the Crimson came away with a hard-fought win in tough playing conditions.