Crimson Chronicles

Game 3 at Lafayette Leopards (10/1/11):

For their third game of the season, the Crimson traveled to Fishers Field in Easton, PA for a non-conference date with Lafayette. The Leopards won the toss and elected to receive, starting their opening drive at the 29. Andrew Shoop led Lafayette’s offense down to Harvard’s 28 on a series of rushes and short passes. From there, Austin O’Brien attempted a 43-yard field goal that missed wide right. Once again, Colton Chapple led Harvard’s offense and a roughing the passer call against Lafayette’s Leroy Butler moved the ball out to the 48. Chapple then hit Seit Smith for 10 and then Treavor Scales rushed for 7. On third and 5 from Lafayette’s 32, Chapple connected with Kyle Juszczyk for 21 yards. The drive stalled at the 9 and David Mothander knocked in a chip shot to give the Crimson an early 3-0 lead. After a change of possession by both teams, the Leopards got the ball back at their 38. On the final play of the first quarter, Shoop hit Bennett on a 14-yard gain into Harvard territory.

Facing a third-and-15 at the 42, Shoop connected with tight end Kevin Doty on a 22-yard gain over the middle. After Shoop was sacked for a loss by Matt Lunati, he went back to Doty again for a 21-yard gain down to the 13. Shoop moved the ball down to the 9 where O’Brien kicked the game-tying field goal. Smith returned the ensuing kickoff out to the 47. After Chapple rushed for a first down, he connected with Zach Boden on a 17-yard gain down to Lafayette’s 16. From there, Chapple connected with Chris Lorditch down to the 4. On second down, Scales rushed it in to give the Crimson a 10-3 lead. On Lafayette’s next possession, Shoop was able to drive the offense down to Harvard’s 29 where he was sacked for a big loss by Zach Hodges and Grant Sickle and the Leopards punted into the end zone. Both teams then went three n’ out on successive drives. The Crimson got the ball back at the 48 late in the quarter and Chapple hit Juszczyk on a 17-yard gain on third down. With time winding down, Chapple hit Scales and Lorditch on successive plays to move the ball down to the 16. After a penalty set the ball back, Chapple hit Juszczyk again inside the 5. From there, Chapple found Alex Sarkisian in the end zone with only three seconds left in the half. With the point after, the Crimson took a 17-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

After the Crimson’s opening drive of the second half went nowhere, Lafayette’s first crack on offense similarly produced no positive result. The Crimson’s next drive was a disaster as Scales lost 15 yards on a carry and then fumbled with the ball having been recovered by Lafayette’s McFarland. Lafayette was in the sweet spot at Harvard’s 8 but Shoop’s pass on third down was intercepted in the end zone by Dan Minamide. Harvard went three n’ out on the next drive but Lafayette’s Darius Saford fumbled the punt and it was recovered by Juszczyk at the 18. Michael Pruneau then stepped into the quarterback role for Harvard and connected with Lorditch on a pass play down to the 6. After a penalty moved the ball down to the 2, Pruneau hit Cameron Brate in the end zone and the Crimson were ahead 24-3. Ryan O’Neil replaced Shoop at that point and he moved the offense all the way down to Harvard’s 25. On fourth-and-6, Lafayette decided to go for it and O’Neil’s pass intended for Greg Stripe fell incomplete.

Early in the fourth quarter, Lafayette got the ball back and punted out. The Crimson started out from their 31 and moved the ball to midfield before the drive ran out of steam and they punted the ball away. Midway through the quarter, the Crimson started out in their end of the field before Pruneau connected with Brate on a 14-yard gain to midfield. On third-and-9 from the 43, Boden ripped down the field and into the end zone for the touchdown. After a series of personal foul calls against Lafayette, Mothander’s kick made it 31-3. Lafayette started out their final drive at the 40 and moved the ball past midfield before the clock ran out.

All in all, it was a convincing road win by Harvard against a quality opponent.