This past weekend marked the last time any Ivy League football squad will face an out-of-conference opponent, as Dartmouth, Harvard, Cornell, and Yale all faced Patriot League foes. The Red easily handled Georgetown on Homecoming, 57-7, but the other Ivy squads struggled with their respective opponents, as the Green and Bulldogs fell to Holy Cross and Lehigh, respectively, and Harvard was able to just squeeze past Lafayette.
The only two exclusive Ivy League games this weekend were hosted by Princeton and Columbia, who were each defeated by their guests – Brown and Penn – respectively.
Penn 44, Columbia 16
In its first game since the passing of running back Kyle Ambrogi, the Quakers (4-1, 2-0 Ivy) gave an inspired effort in their rout of the Lions (2-3, 0-2). The crowd observed a moment of silence before the game for Ambrogi, who committed suicide last Tuesday, and then watched as fellow Penn running back Sam Mathews rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns, including 117 in the first half, as the Quakers jumped out to a 21-3 lead at halftime.
Columbia scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half on scoring strikes from Craig Hormann to Brandon Bowser and Pete Chromiak, which went for 72 and eight yards, respectively. Yet, it was not enough, as the Quakers notched a 31-yard field goal by Derek Zock and a 43-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Doug Middleton to seal the win.
Brown 31, Princeton 28
The Bears’ Nick Hartigan was at it again, as he carried his squad to a come-from-behind win over the Tigers with 245 rushing yards, including a 74-yard touchdown scamper. Hartigan also moved into fifth place on the Ivy League’s all-time career rushing list with 3,592 career yards.
In the seesaw battle, Brown (4-1, 1-1) opened up a 24-7 lead in the second quarter only to see Princeton (3-2, 1-1) storm back to take a 28-24 advantage late in the third quarter.
But a Joe DiGiacomo to Dave Turner touchdown pass with 34 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Bears a 31-28 lead, which the team held onto for the duration of the contest.
Holy Cross 28, Dartmouth 16
Running back Steve Silva notched 353 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns for the Crusaders (5-2) in their Saturday afternoon battle with the Green (1-4, 0-2).
Silva’s touchdowns were scored on the ground (a 1-yard plunge), through the air (a 6-yard pass to Sean Gruber), and on special teams (an 87-yard punt return), in a game which saw Holy Cross jump out to a 28-0 lead before 16 fourth-quarter points by Dartmouth narrowed the final margin of victory for Holy Cross to 12.
Harvard 24, Lafayette 17
The Crimson (3-2, 1-1) used three touchdown strikes by Liam O’Hagan, including two which found fullback Kelly Widman, and 100 yards by tailback Clifton Dawson, to defeat the Leopards (5-2) Saturday afternon. The two scores by Widman gave Harvard a 14-point lead going into the locker room, but Lafayette used two Pat Davis touchdown passes to even the score in the third quarter.
But Harvard was not to be denied on this day, as the third O’Hagan touchdown toss, a 20-yard pass to Alex Breaux, and a 29-yard field goal by Matt Schindel sandwiched a 34-yard field goal by the Leopards’ Rick Ziska, giving Harvard a seven-point win.
Lehigh 28, Yale 21 (O.T.)
After the Mountain Hawks (4-2) scored on a 6-yard run by Eric Rath to start the overtime period, the Bulldogs (2-3, 2-0) had to answer to keep the game going. They were unable to do so however, as the Lehigh defense stopped Yale on four straight plays after allowing a first down to seal the win.
Bulldog quarterback Jeff Mroz threw for 309 yards on 34-of-52 passing and three scores in a losing effort, while Mountain Hawk signal-caller Mark Borda countered with 333 yards on 31-of-46 passing and two scores. Mroz also threw a pair of interceptions, while Borda had just one pass picked off in the game.
Archived article by Chris Mascaro
Sun Sports Editor