Crimson Loses 31-30 Thriller In Last Minute

Eleven crimson and eleven silver flecks of light danced under an indigo mist in the lurid last minutes of a Harvard-Brown game that held 23,000 at Harvard Stadium entranced on Saturday afternoon.

In the bewitching blur the ball was hurriedly snapped, placed down and kicked, rising into the twilight and fading out to the left of the goalposts standing like twin beacons in the gloom. Harvard kicker Gary Bosnic had missed a 30-yd. field goal with 1:14 left in the game and now Brown was assured of a 31-30 victory in a struggle that eddied back and forth between two evenly matched teams.

The margin of victory came on a two-point conversion with 4:11 left in the game, after Brown had scored a touch-down to trail, 30-29. On the decisive play, quarterback Mark Whipple faked a dive play up the middle, rolled to his right, and flipped to Rick Villella just inside the endzone flag.

Both teams played with a cold, relentless fury which produced some of the supreme individual efforts in recent Harvard football history. Quarterback Larry Brown completed 16 of 29 passes for 260 yards to break Jim Kubacki's old record of 2218 career passing yards. Brown threw two touchdown passes on the day and also sashayed for 74 yards on the ground.

Running back Ralph Polillio ran for 89 yards--67 of which came in the second half--caught six passes for 98 yards, and pranced 28 yards for Harvard's final touchdown. Receivers John MacLeod, Rich Horner, and tight end Paul Sablock combined for eight receptions, almost all of them coming in crucial situations.

Second Half Lightning

At the end of the first half the score stood Harvard 7, Brown 3. It was little more than a prelude to the sublime second half. In the fourth quarter alone the Crimson stormed for three consecutive touchdown drives and then marched all the way down to the Brown 12-yd. line to set the stage for Bosnic's do-or-die attempt.

The first half saw plenty of scoring opportunities, but miscues prevented either team from marshalling a concerted offense. There were seven fumbles in the half alone and 15 penalties.

The Crimson received an early setback when Brown laced a bomb to Horner, who was all by himself in the endzone, but the normally sure-handed receiver dropped the ball. Harvard was able to recoup quickly, however, as Brown then hit Sablock over the middle at the eight to make it first-and-goal.

On the next play, Brown drew a bead on John MacLeod, who was sandwiched between three defenders in the endzone, and threw a perfect scoring strike with a little over four minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bruins had to settle for a single field goal midway through the second quarter as the visitors coughed up three fumbles in a 12-minute span.

So Tough

A tough Crimson goal-line stand kept the Bruins out of the endzone, as Chuck Durst wrapped up Bruin back Rick Villella like an overgrown anaconda snake for a third-down loss at the two-yard line. Tad Barrows then came on to kick the 21-yd. chip shot.

Harvard had one more scoring chance before the sands ran out on the half, but came up empty-handed when halfback Jon Hollingsworth fumbled at the Brown seven with 18 seconds remaining.

The second half began inauspiciously for the Crimson when, on the first play from scrimmage at the Harvard four-yard line, Brown (the QB) threw a dainty screen pass intended for Polillio. The toss was picked off by linebacker John Woodring, who lumbered seven yards down the left sideline for the score that put Brown ahead, 10-7.

Brown then went on to score its second TD of the quarter behind the running of workhorse Marty Moran, who gained 120 yards in 25 carries to lead all rushers.

Moran, who bounces and rolls off tacklers as if he were a sailor walking down a church aisle after three years at sea, ran 25 yards for the touchdown. Barrows's point-after went wide, so the Bruins now led 16-7.

Snapping Back

The Crimson's momentum was on the ebb, but with 4:45 left in the quarter, the tide turned. Brown went into punt formation at its own 19-yd. line, but All-Ivy center Mike Knight's snap sailed over punter Larry Carbone's head and out of the endzone for a safety.

Trailing by just seven points, the Crimson eleven embarked on one of the most tempestuous 15-minute spans of football ever witnessed in the Ivy League. The fourth quarter was a jewel box of a game, studded with rare and precious offensive gems.

Harvard tied it up at 16-apiece only 32 seconds into the final period. The key play of the drive was a 30-yd. Larry Brown rainbow to Polillio streaking down the left sideline.

Polillio was shoved out of bounds eight yards from the endzone, but Brown eventually took it over himself on a keeper from one yard out. With signal-caller Brown running the offense with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker, the Crimson swarmed back into the lead for the first time since the opening half.

Polillio slithered up the middle for an 11-yd. gain on a draw play to bring the ball to the Brown 40. Three running plays later, Harvard had moved down to the 26. From there Brown threw a dart to Dave Kinney at the eight--Kinney got clobbered on the play, but held on to the football.

The touchdown came on the very next play when Polillio shirked a block at the line, slid into the left flat, and made a shoestring catch before waltzing in for the six.

Right Back

The Bruins responded by unleashing a drive of their own to tie the game at 23-all. Both teams were now playing wide-open, end-to-end football which neither defense could contain. The Brown score came six minutes into the period, with Moran bucking over the middle from three yards out for his second touchdown run.

Harvard then took the kick-off and began to weave downfield for its third straight scoring series. Polillio seemed transformed into a whirling dervish as the darkness descended. He scored his second touchdown of the quarter on a 28-yd. run, breaking a tackle at the line, cutting to the outside, and then blazing down the right sideline.

The Bruins took possession trailing 30-23 and proceeded to wend their way 68 yards for the final score of the game. Whipple completed a pass at Harvard's 13 to Marty DeFrancesco, who ran inside the 10 with 4:11 left in the game. Two plays later, Whipple went to the air again and found Frank Boucher open in the endzone.

So the whole game now hung in the balance, and with it teetered the seasons of the two teams. Brown decided to try for the victory and made the two-point conversion to go ahead 31-30, but it was a gamble that could have cost the Bruins (now 4-1 in league play) the Ivy title if it failed.

The Crimson steadfastly refused to relent and began a final procession down the field from the 20-yd. line.

Last Hurrah

On third-and-11 from their own 35, Larry Brown and Co. were down to their last hurrah. Under a fierce rush, Brown threw a clutch completion to Horner angling across the field for a first down. From there, Brown uncorked a bullet to John MacLeod in traffic. MacLeod snared the pass at his 22-yd. line, caromed off a pair of defenders and was finally ridden out of bounds at the 12.

On third down and still at the 12, Bosnic came on lined up as if to kick the field goal. Instead, Brown took the snap on the fake, rolled right, and underthrew Gary Quantock in the left flat. Now it was fourth down and once again Bosnic lined up by the right hash mark in the middle of that dark cockpit of emotion on the field.

Bosnic missed, of course, but he said afterwards, "I really never thought about missing it at all. I just hurried it. It was so short that I just wanted to make sure it got off without getting blocked. I'd just like to kick it again."

Bosnic actually did get one more chance. After Brown took possession, it was forced to punt with 12 seconds left in the game. Carbone shanked the punt and it went out of bounds at the Brown 32. Bosnic then attempted a 49-yd. field goal as Harvard's hopes hung on a wing and a prayer.

The ball fell short, and as it fell it broke the spell that made fog-enshrouded Harvard Stadium on Saturday afternoon a charmed circle of 23,000 onlookers and 22 men on the field.CrimsonJoel BallRALPH POLILLIO [22] streaks into the endzone for a 28-yd. touchdown run while a fan registers his jubilation in the background. Polillio's score came with eight minutes left in the game and at the time gave Harvard a 30-23 lead. Polillio had a superlative day, rushing for 67 yards in the second half and catching six passes in the game.