In the third weekend of Ivy League action, streaks were both continued and broken. While Princeton continued its impressive start to the season by romping Columbia, Harvard’s 13-game winning streak, the longest such streak in Division I-AA, came to a screeching halt at the hands of Lehigh. The Crimson will play Cornell (1-2, 0-1 Ivy) at Schoellkopf Field after the Red succumbed to a late rally by Colgate on Saturday, losing 34-20. Here is a recap of the rest of last weekend’s Ancient Eight action.
Lehigh 49, Harvard 24
A banged-up Harvard team hosted Division I-AA power Lehigh (3-1) and the Mountain Hawks immediately took the advantage, as the visitors put up an early 14-0 lead, behind a one-yard run by tailback Eric Rath and a 91-yard reception by receiver Winfred Porter.
Harvard (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) was able to get back into the game through its quarterback Liam O’Hagan, who helped the Crimson record its first points of the game with a 22-yard run with over five minutes left in the half. Two field goals gave the Crimson the lead with less than 11 minutes in the third quarter.
But, Lehigh turned on the offensive power, scoring 28 unanswered points. Keyed by another Rath run into the end zone and a 19-yard touchdown reception by Kevin Zebluim, the Mountain Hawks had a dominating 25-point lead after Lehigh quarterback Mark Borda ran in for another score early in the fourth quarter.
Borda completed 25-of-39 passes for 347 yards, throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions. His counterpart, O’Hagan, went 14-of-25 for 184 with three interceptions while star Harvard running back Clifton Dawson was suppressed by the Mountain Hawks, as he rushed for just 59 yards on 15 carries.
Holy Cross 22, Yale 19
A late rally by Yale (1-2, 1-0 Ivy) was not enough to topple Holy Cross (3-2) on Saturday in New Haven, Conn. While the Crusaders controlled much of the game, its winning efforts have a lot to do with cornerback Casey Gough, who had a safety, interception and a blocked extra point.
After kicking a field goal in its opening drive, Holy Cross again scored on Yale’s third possession, when Gough tackled Bulldog Jordan Spence in the end zone to give the Crusaders a 5-0 lead. The Crusaders continued their scoring in the second quarter when Sean Gruber ran into an end zone after a nine-yard run.
Holy Cross had a comfortable lead going into the fourth, before Yale started its comeback after a one-yard touchdown run by tailback Mike McLeod. While Gough blocked at extra point attempt, Yale quarterback Jeff Mroz again lead his team downfield and Bulldog William Blodgett caught an eight-yard touchdown reception to cut the deficit to two. But, on the ensuring kick off, Crusader Steve Silva virtually put the game away after returning the ball 84-yards for the touchdown.
Penn 26, Dartmouth 9
Penn’s (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) defense held strong and Quaker quarterback Pat McDermott completed 20-of-24 passes for 209 yards, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions, to defeat the Green (1-2, 0-1 Ivy) on Saturday.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Quakers took the lead in the second behind three field goals by placekicker Derek Zoch to give Penn a 9-0 advantage going into the half. While a Dartmouth field goal after the break made it 9-3, a five play, 60-yard drive culminating in a seven yard touchdown reception by Quaker Chris Mizell extended Penn’s lead to 13. Penn’s Billy May caught a four-yard touchdown pass from McDermott with 36 seconds left in the third to extend the Quakers’ lead.
Dartmouth managed to score six points through a Mark Brogna touchdown, but another Zoch field capped off the win for Penn.
Princeton 43, Columbia 3
Behind a combined four rushing touchdowns by tailback Cleosie Kirkland and quarterback Jeff Terrell, the Tigers (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) crushed the Lions (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) in Princeton on Saturday.
Princeton got on the board early and never looked back. After kicking an early field goal in the first, Kirkland scored his first touchdown of the day off a nine play, 69-yard Tiger drive to give Princeton a 10-0 lead. Kirkland had 21 carries for 130 yards against Columbia.
The Tigers continued their scoring in the second through two more field goals and a Terrell one- yard run, before Columbia finally got on the board at the end of the half through a Jon Rocholl field goal, cutting the deficit to 20.
Columbia never got into the game, as Terrell ran 16 yards for the score with 8:39 left in the third and Princeton placekicker Derek Javarone tacked on yet another three points to give the Tigers a 33-3 lead. Javarone kicked five field goals on the day, tying his own Ivy League record. Saturday’s win marked Princeton’s largest margin of victory since 1995.
Brown 45, Rhode Island 35
Still stinging from a double-overtime loss to Harvard last weekend, Brown (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) was carried on Saturday by The Sports Network and i-aa.org’s National Offensive Player of the Week Nick Hartigan, who ran for 252 yards and four touchdowns, as the Bears won a shootout in Providence, R.I.
After trading touchdowns in the first quarters, a Brandon Markey 27-yard run gave Brown a lead that it would never relinquish. Hartigan scored three touchdowns in the first half, as the Bears went into the break with a 35-21 lead. Rhode Island (3-2) would cut the lead to 10 through a six-yard run by tailback Calvin Poole. But, the Rams would get no closer, as Hartigan found the end zone for the fourth time off a 34-yard run with 5:41 remaining in the game.
Archived article by Brian Tsao
Sun Assistant Sports Editor