Harvard Stomps Yale, 14-0

HARVARD WINS! HARVARD WINS! HARVARD WINS!

On a cold and rainy day at The Stadium, Harvard pitched its first shutout against Yale since 1966, defeating the Elis 14-0.

The hero of the game was the newfound resiliency of the defense, which allowed yards but no points like the Boston Celtics once held Michael Jordan to 60-point games but no wins.

In this game, the role of Jordan was filled by Yale tailback Keith Price, who gained 162 yards on 25 carries. All his big gains were in non-critical situations--outside the Harvard 20.

No points.

Defense Heroic

All year long, the talk had been of the offense. Junior quarterback Mike Giardi. Captain Robb Hirsch. The Multi-Flex. And the offense did its job: two strong drives spearheaded by Giardi's running and passing.

But the defense--keyed by nine senior starters, none of whom had ever beaten Yale in their entire careers--played with more emotion than they had all season.

Price may have roamed from from 20 yard line to 20 yard line, but inside the red zone was Harvard territory and the defense let the Elis know.

Two unbelievable goalline stands won The Game for Harvard: one was important, the other clinched the game.

The clinching stop occurred with Harvard leading 14-0 and 4:48 remaining in the game. Yale faced 4th-and-inches on Harvard's one yard line.

With the game clearly riding on this one play, Yale quarterback Chris Hetherington handed off to Price who leaped high over the middle.

But senior free safety Rob Santos knocked the ball loose as Price flew by and junior linebacker brain Ramer recovered the ball on the Harvard four yard line as both players and Harvard fans went nuts.

Price's fumble was The Game. After that, the contest was for the shutout. (Harvard won that match, too.)

The other stand, which served notice that Yale was in deep doo-doo (as one Yale grad might put it) was earlier in the same quarter.

After A Giardi five-yard scamper put Harvard up 14-0, Price took a second down handoff and rumbled 59 yards to the Harvard four yard line. Junior cornerback James Ellis prevented the touchdown by a shoestring--literally, tripping Price at the 10.

On 2nd-and-goal from the two, Price took the handoff and was immediately slaughtered by junior linebacker Brian Ramer. Somehow, Price wiggled free but Ellis was there to bring him down for a 5-yard loss.

On third down, Mills (who briefly replaced the ineffective Hetherington but was no great player himself) dropped back to pass and was harassed by the Harvard line Mills could have scrambled for the end zone, but instead he floated a pass to standout receiver Dave Iwan.

Bad call. Santos raced over and outfought Iwan for the ball. Harvard was just not going to lose.

Not Going To Be Denied

The defense was just not going to be denied. All week long, seniors linebacker Monte Giese, adjuster Chris Pillsbury and Santos had spoke of the frustration of losing to Yale. The release was a psychiatrist's dream: the defense unleashed everything it had, three years of pent-up anger.

Never before had such emotion been displayed. The crowd was even treated to a sack dance or two.

For Harvard, Giardi rushed 24 times for 69 yards--every one of them critical. Senior Kendrick Joyce had 56 yards on 10 carries, including a 29-yard fourth down scramble that set up Harvard's first touchdown. Senior fullback Mike Hill rushed 5 times for 18 yards, while Captain Robb Hirsch tallied 27 yards on 12 carries.

In fact, Yale outgained Harvard, 289 yards to 204 yards overall. But it was the Eli quarterbacks' complete inability to throw that sunk the Bulldogs.

Hetherington, the surprise starter, completed none of five passes, while his replacement, junior Steve Mills, completed just one of five and threw the key interception.

Giardi completed five of 10 passes for 60 yards. Senior tight end Frank Lilly was the big man for the Crimson, catching two passes for 29 yards.

Ability to pass is what separated the two teams, it was also the key on the Crimson's second TD:

Yale opened the second half with a new quarterback--bringing in junior Steve Mills to replace sophomore Chris Hetherington--but the Harvard defense forced the Yale offense off the field in four plays.

A poor Yale punt gave Harvard the ball at midfield, and Giardi spearheaded a 10-play, 56-yard touchdown drive by turning to his passing game.

Giardi completed passes to Captain Robb Hirsch for nine yards and to senior tight end Frank Lilly for 12 and 17 yards.

Air Harvard forced Yale to spread the field and the newfound freedom left Giardi just enough room to take the ball the final 14 yards himself, scoring on a five-yard scramble with 5:16 in the third quarter.

Junior kicker Mark Hall's PAT was good and Harvard matched its largest lead of the season--14 points.

The Crimson scored the only points of the first half on a Giardi one-yard touchdown plunge with 9:30 gone in the first quarter.

Giardi (who rushed for 41 first half yards) brought the Crimson down to a 4th-and-1 situation on the Yale 30.

Restic elected to go for it, and senior Kendrick Joyce took a misdirection handoff from Giardi and found himself all alone on the right side.

Joyce--the team's best open-field runner--dodged several tacklers and nearly went all the way, but sophomore linebacker Carl Ricci caught Joyce by the ankle at the one.

Two quarterback sneaks later, Harvard had a 6-0 lead, 7-0 after junior kicker Mark Hall nailed the PAT.

It was Giardi's 20th rushing touchdown of his career.

Hetherington put together a 15-play drive over six minutes with time running out in the second half, and Yale had a first down on the Harvard 15 with seven seconds left in the half.

But instead of kicking the field goal, Yale Coach Carm Cozza elected to run one more play--and the dice nearly came up seven.

Backup split end Ed Kmak was wide open in the left corner of the end zone, but Hetherington overthrew the ball. Kmak leaped and caught the pass but landed out of bounds as the horn sounded.

It was the first time the Crimson defense had held an opponent scoreless in the first half all season.

Harvard had one other chance to score: early in the second quarter, Giardi and the offensive corps marched downfield to the Yale 22.

But on third down, Giardi was forced to scramble and Yale linebacker Jeff Kinney dropped him for a eight-yard loss. Hall's 46-yard field goal attempt was wide left.

The Crimson defense stopped Eli star tailback Keith Price cold in the first half, holding the explosive runner to just 28 yards on 12 carrier. Hetherington ran for 42 yards on nine carries. HARVARD, 14-0 at The Stadium Harvard  7  0  7  0  --  14 Yale  0  0  0  0  --  0

First Quarter

Har--Giardi, 1 run (Hall kick), 9:30

Second Quarter

No scoring.

Third Quarter

Har--Giardi, 5 run (Hall kick), 5:16

Fourth Quarter

No scoring.

Rushing: Yale-Price 25-162, Hetherington 12-53, Kelley 10-41, Dixon 5-29, Fahrney 1-2, Mills 3-(-9); Har-Joyce, 10-53, Giardi 24-47, Hirsch 12-27, Hill 5-16, Maher 1-1.

Passing: Yale-Hetherington 0-5-0-0, Mills 1-5-1-0, lwan 1-1-0-11; Har-Giardi 5-10-0-60.

Receiving: Yale-Dixon 2-11; Har-Lilly 2-29, Maher 1-12, Begert 1-11, Hirsch 1-8.

FG Missed: Yale-none; Har-Hall 46 yds.

Attendance: 31,500.