Mobile Pizzotti, Ho Lead Crimson in Win

Harvard Stadium reached yet another milestone Saturday afternoon: its first day game under the lights.

In wet and windy conditions, Dartmouth (2-5, 2-2 Ivy) gave the Crimson (5-2, 4-0) a game, but 11,005 fans saw Harvard pull through and notch another important Ivy League victory, 28-21, knocking the Big Green out of title contention.

“A very solid, workmanlike victory,” said Crimson head coach Tim Murphy. “They made us work for everything. I thought Dartmouth was a really well-coached football team—they played extremely hard.”

And Murphy would know, as the battle pitted him against longtime friend and Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens.

Both coaches dug deep into their play books to try to fool the other; Murphy’s tricks included run plays with a few unlikely ball carriers.

After Big Green quarterback Alex Jenny connected with Julian Collins for a 55-yard touchdown pass with 4:28 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 14, Harvard turned to freshman backup quarterback Collier Winters to provide a spark.

Winters entered the game with the ball in the red zone and, with everyone in the stadium expecting a run play, ended the Crimson’s short scoring drive with an electrifying 20-yard touchdown scramble. The score put the team up, 21-14, with 1:26 remaining in the third frame.

But Winters wasn’t done. After Harvard regained possession on Doug Hewlett’s second interception, Winters more or less clinched the win with his second career touchdown run, a four-yard plunge just 38 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Dartmouth responded with a 17-play drive that ended in a one-yard touchdown run from fullback Ryan Mahoney that brought the score to 28-21 with 5:22 remaining in the game.

But there was not enough time, and too much pressure from the relentless Harvard defense, for the Big Green to close the gap.

Each week there has been a different star in the Crimson secondary. Last Saturday, it was senior cornerback Steven Williams (who also had an interception in the endzone this Saturday, tying him for first on Harvard’s all-time career interceptions list). This week, it was senior safety Doug Hewlett who filled up the stat sheet with three picks.

Hewlett put the game away with his final interception, grabbing a desperation pass by Dartmouth’s second quarterback of the day, Tom Bennewitz, with 1:26 left in the game.

“At first I was actually kind of reading towards the other side, and I was a little surprised,” Hewlett said. “It was a little overthrown, and I guess that was what helped me make that play, just being in the right place at the right time.”

Although the score does not suggest it, defense was the story of the day on both sides. Senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti’s early interception—on a pass that went through the hands of senior wideout Matt Lagace—allowed the Big Green to strike first on a five-yard pass from Jenny to wideout Brett Lowe 4:27 into the game.

Hewlett’s first pick of the game came deep in Harvard territory, quelling a Dartmouth scoring threat that would have given the Big Green a 14-7 first-quarter lead.

After the initial interception, Pizzotti, who finished 16-of-24 with 193 yards, settled down and demonstrated his expanded repertoire is here to stay, displaying mobility in the pocket and the ability to work both options and design runs. Pizzotti showed Winters wasn’t the only one who could do the Dawson on Dartmouth’s ‘D,’ scoring 14 unanswered points on a pair of one-yard touchdown runs, an option and a quarterback sneak.

“Each week, I’m more comfortable running the football,” Pizzotti said. “The looks they were giving us, we knew there were some plays we could run with some quarterback designed runs or pitching the ball to a running back that could have some success based off their defense, and the line blocked just as we had hoped for.”

Pizzotti finally got some consistent help from the run game as sophomore Cheng Ho posted 114 yards on 15 carries, including a 41-yard scamper that showcased his innate ability to cut back and make tacklers miss. The big play set up Pizzotti’s first touchdown run. Freshman Gino Gordon backed Ho up admirably with a 64-yard day, grinding out yards in the second half.

“We’ve gotten better, we’ve tried to balance our offense, and we’re getting back to being a more balanced offense the last two weeks—and that’s what we need to be successful,” Murphy said. “We know we can throw the ball, and we’re developing a lot of confidence running the ball now.”

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.