The New Kid on the Block

New Englanders have always taken a special pride in their homegrown sports stars.

While the good people in Buffalo may prefer Rob Johnson as their starting signal-caller, ask any Boston native about the Bills' quarterback controversy and he or she will happily furnish you a list of Doug Flutie's accomplishments dating all the way back to his playing days at Natick High School.

Through the good and the bad, fans in this region reserve a special place in their hearts for area athletes.

Given that tradition of appreciation for local talent, there is little doubt as to why Harvard freshman linebacker Dante Balestracci has so quickly become such an endearing presence in these parts.

A product of New Bedford, Mass., Balestracci was tabbed as a can't-miss prospect almost before he played his first high school game.

So far he has lived up to the hype.

At the conclusion of tomorrow's perennial clash with Yale, Balestracci will likely finish the season as the Crimson's leading tackler. If he does, he would be the first Harvard player ever to accomplish the feat as a freshman.

Balestracci already owns the mark for most tackles by a freshman. He surpassed that milestone in last week's contest against Penn.

The good news for New England sports fans is that, since Balestracci is just a freshman, they have three more years to be entertained by watching him play. Given what he has accomplished so far, the prospects for what lies ahead are almost scary.

For those unacquainted with Balestracci's remarkable accomplishments thus far, his is a story of a local boy who has made good.

New Bedford's Favorite Son

After living in Dartmouth, Mass. all his life, Balestracci broke the hearts of his friends and neighbors--not to mention those of the coaches at the local high school--when his family moved to nearby New Bedford the summer before he entered the ninth grade.

Balestracci insists he never dated his school's head cheerleader while he attended New Bedford High, but for all intents and purposes, he was the big man on campus.

Balestracci ended his high school playing career as one of the most celebrated athletes in school history. A standout in football, basketball and baseball, he was the first athlete from New Bedford ever to be named a conference all-star in two sports.

As a sophomore, he led the Whalers' baseball team to the state championship game at Fenway Park, where he homered into the screen above the Green Monster.

On the football field, he dominated on both sides of the ball, performing double-duty as quarterback and safety. In his senior season, he threw for 15 touchdowns while leading the team in tackles (132) and interceptions (5).

For all his accomplishments at those positions, however, most of the schools that ultimately recruited Balestracci were interested in him as a linebacker.

"I was kind of big for a safety, and I could only get bigger," Balestracci said. "I kind of miss playing quarterback. But it feels a lot better to dish out the hits than it does to be the one sitting back there taking them. So I don't mind that."

When it came time to move up to the college ranks, Balestracci decided to focus on football, which he admits is his favorite sport. Nevertheless, he might easily have pursued a career in any of his three sports.

"I'm kind of happy that I've finally been able to concentrate on one sport and put all my effort into that," Balestracci said. "I haven't been able to do that before now."

Local Kid Stays Local

The college recruiters came knocking on Balestracci's door very early on in his high school days. Ultimately, though, the choice came down to Brown--his father's alma mater--and Harvard.

All it took was one visit to Cambridge and Balestracci was sold on joining up with the Crimson. What impressed him most about Harvard, he says, is how seriously the school takes football.

"This program is second-to-none as far as I am concerned," Balestracci said.

Once he arrived here, it did not take Balestracci long to make an impact. He also immediately noticed a major difference between the high school and college levels.

"The game is so much quicker than in high school," Balestracci said. "I was a little nervous about learning the system, being so much closer to the ball than I was at safety. Things happen so much quicker [at linebacker]."

If he was apprehensive about making his first college start, he certainly didn't show it. Balestracci made 10 tackles in Harvard's opener against Holy Cross.

Since that impressive debut, Balestracci has steadily improved his game and successfully made a seamless transition to the college level.

"The D-line in front of me made it so much easier," Balestracci said. "They've taken care of blocks and haven't let guys get to me. They've definitely helped me make the transition."

In perhaps his best game to date, at Dartmouth on Oct. 28 Balestracci picked off two passes and ran them back for touchdowns to help lift the Crimson over the Big Green, 49-7. In the process, Balestracci became the first player in Harvard history to return a pair of picks for scores in one game.

Balestracci was awarded Ivy Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

"I had never run an interception for a touchdown before in a game," Balestracci said. "To get two in the same game was unbelievable."

Interestingly, one year after Balestracci led his high school team in interceptions as a safety, he now leads his Harvard team in the same category as a linebacker.

The Next Big Thing?

Over the course of his rookie campaign, Balestracci's remarkable level of play has evoked numerous comparisons between him and the very player whose tackles record he broke last week--Isaiah Kacyvenski '00.

That is no small tribute. Kacyvenski, who now plays for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, graduated from Harvard as the school's all-time leading tackler and the first player to start all 40 games of a Crimson football career.

"Just to be compared to him and have the chance to break one of his records is just an honor to me," Balestracci said. "To even have someone mention me in the same sentence as him is a tremendous honor."

The numbers, however, don't lie. Statistically speaking, Balestracci is right now ahead of Kacyvenski's record pace in tackles, thus begging the question: could a professional football career be in Balestracci's future as well?

"I love the game of football and I'll play it until they tell me I can't play anymore," Balestracci said.

Before all is said and done, Balestracci will surely leave his mark on Harvard football in much the same way as Kacyvenski did. But Balestracci has many games to play before his career reaches that point.

He also has a major Harvard football tradition to participate in tomorrow afternoon in The Game.

"I definitely think I have an appreciation for [the Harvard-Yale rivalry], but I don't think I'm actually going to realize it until I get out on the field and see the crowd," Balestracci said. "But there's just a feeling going around in the locker room that this is the time we have to play."

Tomorrow's contest at Harvard Stadium will provide Balestracci with the biggest stage he has performed on to date. But as much as he will surely impress in tomorrow's game, the best may still be yet to come.

And the locals will be watching all the while.