Crimson Gridders Drop Fifth Straight

How many games are won by teams that rush for minus 35 yards in the first half?

It almost happened at Soldiers Field on Saturday, but Harvard's revitalized second-half offense was not enough to overcome Princeton as the Tigers handed the Crimson its fifth consecutive loss, 9-7.

"It's been a long time since I've been in a game like that," Harvard coach Joe Restic said after the game. "There were so many critical plays that hurt us."

In the Sack

There were quarterback sacks and fumbles on crucial plays, penalties to stall Harvard drives, and a big roughing the kicker penalty to pull the Tigers out of a hole at their own eight on a fourth and 15 to close the first quarter.

Lou Vaccarello provided the margin of victory for the Tigers, capping a 74-yd., six play drive with a 40-yd. field goal with Harvard leading 7-6 at 5:06 of the fourth quarter.

Princeton took an early lead after two lackluster possessions by the Crimson. On the opening series, quarterback Burke St. John was sacked twice for a combined loss of nine yards.

Digging A Hole

After exchanging punts, Harvard stood deep in its own territory. St. John sprinted left on an option but fumbled and put the Crimson back at its own five. The ensuing punt gave the Tigers the ball just over the midfield stripe at the Harvard 48.

From there, Princeton's potent back-field of Ivy rushing leader Cris Crissy and Larry Van Pelt went to work. Crissy went off right tackle for 9 and wide left for 7. Tiger signalcaller Steve Reynolds moved the ball on an option to the 22 for a first and ten, but two runs by Crissy and an incomplete pass left Princeton with a fourth and two at the 14.

To the amazement of everybody, Tiger coach Frank Navarro elected to go for the first, which Van Pelt picked up with a yard to spare. "The offense felt we could make it," Navarro explained later. "We've been having trouble with out snaps on kicks and I was concerned with the effect it might have on the team to get that close and come away with no points having tried a field goal when we were that close to the first down."

Van Pelt brought the Tigers to the doorstep with an eight-yd. run on the next play and Reynolds took them over the threshold on a bootleg left from the three. Princeton then showed that Navarro's concern was not for naught when a fumbled snap by Reynolds on the conversion forced a passing attempt that fell incomplete.

The next possession typified the Crimson day on offense. St. John had apparently loaded up his arm on the sidelines and from the Harvard 36 he faked the halfback option and threw over the middle to Al Altieri curling out of the backfield at the 45. Altieri bulled his way into Princeton territory at the 44 where the drive began to stall.

An illegal procedure call on Harvard put the ball back at midfield three plays later for a third and 16. A ripping reception by Tom Beatrice at the 24 kept the drive going momentarily, but mistakes began to take over.

Beatrice recovered his own fumble for a four-yd. loss on a pitchout. A halfback option took Harvard four yards further from the goal line; and on third and 18, St. John was sacked to take Harvard back to the 41 and out of field goal range.

Strung Out

St. John strung together another series of completions using the sidelines effectively as the first half wound down and brought Harvard to the enemy 21. But a six-yd. loss on a rollout pass to Beatrice brought in Dave Cody for a 44-yd. field goal try with five seconds left. Cody's kick into the swirling wind fell short as time expired.

The offense avoided calamity as it opened the second half with a touchdown to take the lead. Beatrice lugged the ball from the 36 up close to midfield on a 12-yd. halfback option. Jon Hollingsworth (who had a fine second half) then ripped off a 21-yd. burst to put the Crimson at the 31.

Three plays later, St. John hit the elusive Richie Horner (8 catches for 119 yards on the day) at the 15. A quarterback sack was mercifully nullified by a Tiger offsides call to set up a second and five at the ten. After a quick first down, Paul Scheper scampered over from the three for the only Harvard lead of the day.

Relapse

Harvard's offensive malaise returned quickly, however. The Crimson moved the ball from its own 22 down to the Tiger 28 before a two-yd. loss, a seven-yd. sack and a holding penalty took away the opportunity for a score.

A fumble stymied the next Harvard series, but the Crimson drove down the field again as the fourth quarter opened with St. John mixing runs and passes to Horner effectively. But on fourth and five, Cody's 43-yd. field goal attempt hit the crossbar and bounded back into the endzone.

The Crimson did not threaten again and the afternoon climaxed in a miserable series with 1:30 remaining when the Tiger blitz resulted in three incomplete passes, and a sack.

Seasoning

Princeton was relentless in its offensive pressure, peppering the Crimson secondary with passes most of the way through the fourth quarter. "We couldn't hold the ball against Harvard," Navarro said. "That's how much we respected Harvard's offense with Burke St. John in there. We didn't find out until late in the game how we could stop their passing with the blitz."