The Lost Crusade

WORCESTER, Mass.—The sport of football is a funny thing. On any given Saturday, it can giveth and it can taketh away. That was certainly the case for Harvard football this weekend, as it witnessed highs and lows before ultimately falling to Holy Cross (3-0), 27-20.

“The bottom line is that we played hard, but they made a few more plays, and we made a few more mistakes,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “And that makes the difference in the game.”

Harvard (0-1) got off to a hot start, marching down the field on its opening drive using a combination of short tosses from junior quarterback Collier Winters and short gains on the ground from both Winters and junior running back Gino Gordon. When Winters ultimately connected with Gordon for a five-yard touchdown pass, the Crimson offensive line returned to the bench with not only six points on the board, but also significant time off the game clock. The opening drive controlled four and a half minutes of play.

A missed extra point by senior Patrick Long held Harvard’s score at six.

But when the Crusader offense took over—led by three-time captain and two-time Patriot League Player of the Year Dominic Randolph—the momentum instantly shifted over to the home team. Though Holy Cross was unable to get anything done in its opening possession, Randolph showed he could pick apart the Crimson defense.

“They’re a tough offense,” captain Carl Ehrlich said. “We knew it was a tough offense coming in.”

And though Harvard controlled the clock in the first possession, the Crimson ended the first quarter with just 6:57 of possession time to the Crusaders’ 8:03.

Just before time expired in the first frame, Randolph hit Nick Cole for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Harvard had held the advantage for the larger part of the quarter, but after Rick Dornfried’s successful extra point attempt, Holy Cross took a lead that it would not relinquish.

Midway through the second period, Randolph exhibited his versatility, taking the ball himself up the middle for a one-yard sneak, resulting in another Crusader score.

Holy Cross added some insurance to start the second half. Running back Matt Bellomo, who finished the day with only 37 yards on 10 carries, picked up his longest rush of the day, punctuating a 10-yard run with another Crusader touchdown. But a missed extra point from Dornfried kept the score at 20-6.

Down by two touchdowns, Collier Winters and the Harvard offense looked to close the gap. But with the Holy Cross’s best cornerback Michael Wright matched up against senior Matt Luft, Winters’ targets were severely limited.

“I thought we spread it around reasonably, but I think they did a good job against Luft,” Murphy said. “That was part of their game plan. They put their best guy on him. Sometimes they double covered him under the boundary. But the bottom line is predicated on what people give us and that’s what Collier tried to do today.”

With just under eight minutes to play in the third frame, Harvard seemed to show signs of life again. Winters found a new favorite target in junior Chris Lorditch, while Gordon and rookie Treavor Scales shared time in the running game. Capping off the drive, Gordon punched it in from two yards out to pull the Crimson within seven.

“Second-half protection was a lot better,” Winters said. “They kind of stopped blitzing, so that allowed us to get some time and get some routes downfield. When they were blitzing in the first half, they left a lot of holes underneath, so I just took what they gave us.”

Then, with a quick three-and-out on defense, Winters drove deep into the red zone. Poised at the 15-yard line and staring at a fourth and three situation, Murphy decided to go for broke. But a handoff to Gordon, who drove up the middle, got shut down two yards short of moving the chains.

“I just felt like their offense is good enough that you can’t guarantee that you’re going to get them off the field,” Murphy said. “I didn’t feel great about where we were for a field goal. We wanted to try to get something done there. We needed seven points to win the game.”

In the final frame, Randolph again showed why he’s the two-time defending Conference Player of the Year. With just over 11 minutes to play, he connected with an open Gerald Mistretta, who completed the 45-yard touchdown pass. The whole series lasted only nine seconds, and the worn-down Harvard offense returned to the field needing to make up 14 points. And despite falling into another fourth-down situation—this time with 14 yards to go—Harvard again went for it, this time with a different result. Lorditch managed to beat his man, and Winters tagged him from 46 yards out for a touchdown.

“Our receivers were a little mixed up,” Winters said. “We had Luft as a slot receiver, which he’s usually not. But it worked out good for us because it kept the safety in. He was kind of keying on Luft. The corner was peeking inside and Lorditch just ran by him. I saw him and just threw it up to him.”

And though the Crimson defense contained Randolph for the rest of the game, Harvard was unable to capitalize on its final drive. After two short run gains, Winters was sent scrambling out of the pocket.

Not finding an open man, the quarterback was hit from behind. The ball sprung free, and Holy Cross’s Alex Carson fell on it. Randolph and his offense were able to ride out the clock, sealing the 27-20 Crusader victory.

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