NOTEBOOK: Career Day for Back, Kicker

EASTON, Penn—Lafayette coach Frank Tavani summed up Saturday’s game well when he said that Harvard “played perfect against us.”

Everything was working perfectly for the Crimson squad. The offensive line gave senior Chris Pizzotti plenty of time in the pocket, and the defense stopped the Leopards in the red zone.

“[The offense] put up a lot of points, they did their job, we did ours, and it was a very good win,” captain Matt Curtis said.

But amidst all of the perfection, two players went beyond the call of duty, tallying new career-highs in the process.

On Harvard’s second possession of the game, with just 1:42 left on the clock in the first quarter, an incomplete pass from Pizzotti to sophomore Chris Lorditch set the Crimson up for a fourth and eight field goal attempt from the 23-yard line.

Junior Patrick Long came out for the 41-yard attempt. Long’s previous record was a 40-yard kick last year, also against Lafayette. With one swift kick, Long split the uprights and extended Harvard’s lead to 10-3.

Long was called upon again with just under six minutes left in the game. From the Leopard 28, Long stood poised for a 45-yard attempt. His successful kick set yet another new career-long and put the score out of reach for Lafayette.

Long wasn’t the only one breaking personal records. Setting him up for his new record kick was junior Cheng Ho’s 51-yard run—a new career long.

NO PAIN, NO GAIN

Saturday’s game was uncharacteristically physical for a non-conference matchup.

Each side was flagged for interference, hitting the punt returner before he could make a play on the ball. Both Pizzotti and the Leopards’ Rob Curley got shaken up, particularly in the third quarter. And both sides suffered key injuries.

Most notably, in the fourth quarter, a seemingly successful option dish from Pizzotti to Ho ended badly when Lorditch got caught up in the tackle and had to be carried off the field.

“You know, we’ve been crushed at wide receiver,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said.

Harvard can’t afford any more losses to its wide receiving ranks. Last week against Brown, sophomore Marco Iannuzzi broke his collarbone in two places. Before the season opener, junior Mike Cook suffered a season-ending pectoral tear.

“We’ve now lost three of our top four wide receivers, and we had a freshman out there for the last series,” Murphy said.

With all of the injuries to the wide receivers, rookie Adam Chrissis lined up for some plays after Lorditch was helped off of the field.

IVY ROUNDUP

While only half of the weekend’s matchups did not feature Ivy-on-Ivy competition, league competitors certainly made some unexpected waves.

Cornell pulled off a stunning upset of a depleted Lehigh squad in Bethlehem, Penn. as quarterback Nathan Ford threw a 20-yard touchdown strike with time expiring to give the Big Red the 25-24 win.

The victory came just one week after Cornell dropped championship hopeful Yale.

The Bulldogs struggled as well in week three, squandering a 14-point fourth quarter lead. Although Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph threw three picks, Yale needed two overtimes to pull out the 31-28 victory.

After beating Harvard for the first time in eight years last weekend, Brown dropped the ball, succumbing to a 37-13 defeat at the hands of instate rival Rhode Island

The rest of the league played out as expected, as Princeton topped Columbia in a close 27-24 contest, and Penn beat up on Ivy basement dweller Dartmouth, 23-10.

—Staff writer Dixon McPhillips can be reached at fmcphill@fas.harvard.edu