Fired Up

BETHLEHEM, Penn.—In a contest that could have been a trap game for Harvard football, the only person that felt trapped was Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum.

The sophomore, who was making his first career start, was terrorized by the Crimson defense, which sacked him four times and picked off four of his passes.

Senior linebacker Jon Takamura ran back a fourth-quarter interception 60 yards for a touchdown to ice Harvard’s (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) 28-14 win over the Mountain Hawks (0-4, 0-0 Patriot) Saturday in a non-conference matchup at Goodman Stadium.

“I think the combination of [good coaching and veteran leadership] has given us a lot of energy on defense, a lot of leadership on defense,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “We’re a very solid unit right now.”

With six minutes to play in the game, Lum attempted a screen pass on third and 10. But a blitzing Takamura read the play to perfection, pulling down the ball and finding an open lane to the endzone.

“I just had my sights on the endzone, and I was going to get there one way or another,” Takamura said. “I saw [Lum] coming at me, and he had a great angle. So I felt like I had room to cut it back—normally, we’re taught not to cut it back, but I had the room to. Once I saw him slide, I knew I had it.”

But it was simply the flashiest play from a defensive unit that only allowed Lehigh across midfield five times during the game.

“I felt our coaches had us very well-prepared for the Lehigh offense—and give them credit, they came out and played hard,” said Takamura, who finished with seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a pick. “But we really made plays, a lot of plays. We’re playing with a great group of guys on defense right now, so we just have to keep rolling.”

The Mountain Hawks, who were looking to avoid their first 0-4 start since the 1982 season, got off on the right foot. On the first drive of the game, Lum took his team 83 yards to an early lead.

On a 3rd-and-goal play, the quarterback hit junior tight end Alex Wojdowski for a one-yard touchdown pass. An extra point from kicker Tom Randazza made the score 7-0 in favor of the home team.

But that was the last time Lehigh would threaten until the fourth quarter, and the Crimson offense took advantage of the opportunities handed to it by the defense.

Senior Ryan Barnes made Harvard’s first pick of the day late in the first quarter, putting the Crimson on its own 37-yard line. And from there, the tag team of junior quarterback Collier Winters and senior running back Cheng Ho led the drive that would even the score.

Ho, Harvard’s third-string running back, got his first start of the season with junior Gino Gordon injured and freshman Treavor Scales away for a family funeral. And Ho seized the opportunity, running for 132 yards on 21 carries and scoring two of the Crimson’s touchdowns—one by air, one by land.

After Ho rushed for 13 yards early in the drive, he connected with Winters for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 12:46 remaining in the half.

But when the Mountain Hawks got the ball back, it was déja vu.

Lum once again took to the air, and once again his pass was intercepted—this time, by junior Collin Zych, who anchored the defense with two picks, two pass breakups, and six tackles.

Winters and his offense started driving from the Lehigh 38, and eight plays later, sophomore Adam Chrissis hauled in a three-yard catch for another score.

The two touchdowns were the highlights of an extremely productive second quarter for Harvard, which held the ball for more than 10 minutes and outgained Lehigh 162-35. The Crimson threatened once more in the waning seconds of the half, but senior Patrick Long’s 36-yard field goal attempt went wide right.

But Winters had his hands full with the Mountain Hawks’ defensive line, getting sacked six times. The junior finished with 152 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception while gaining no net yardage on the ground.

“Harvard’s a very big, physical football team,” Lehigh coach Andy Coen said. “But I thought, all in all, the defense played well enough that if offensively we were doing what we do, we would have had a chance to win the football game.”

Senior Matt Luft, the Crimson’s top receiver, missed the game with an injury, and Winters’ favorite target, junior Chris Lorditch, finished with just one catch for 13 yards—though a second-quarter catch that was ruled out-of-bounds should have been called a touchdown, according to video replay.

With Winters getting roughed up, it was the performance of Harvard’s two running backs, Ho and sophomore Demetrius Gadson, that carried the Crimson offense. Gadson finished with 52 yards on 14 carries.

Ho added another touchdown midway through the third frame, carrying the ball himself on the final three plays of the drive and capping it with a five-yard run to the endzone.

Up 21-7, the Crimson defense did not let up. With Lehigh on the Harvard 19-yard line, the Crimson stopped receiver Jake Drwal just inches short of a first down on an attempted fourth-down conversion. And though the Harvard offense wasn’t making much noise, Zych and Takamura ended Lehigh’s next two drives with interceptions.

“[Not finishing drives] is the thing of the day for us,” Lum said. “We’ve got to keep it going all the way and not stop.”

Lum was able to pull his offense together in the final quarter, capping an 80-yard drive with a one-yard run to make the final score 28-14.

But it was too little, too late for the Mountain Hawks, as the Crimson ate up the last 3:50 to seal the win.

“Right now, our strengths are that we’re pretty balanced as a team, we’re solid in every unit,” Murphy said. “And right now, effort. We’re doing a great job with effort.”

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.