Crimson Gridders Paste Colgate, 24-21

The Crimson's combustible offense ignited for two touchdowns and a field goal, and captain Steve Potysman sparked a minor conflagration of his own with a 58-yard interception run for a touchdown as Harvard defeated Colgate, 24-21, in the stadium Saturday.

After three quarters of play the game was a veritable rout with Harvard ahead 24-7 on the strength of Larry Brown's 11-17 passing and 73 yards rushing. For most of the game, though, the accolades belonged to the Crimson defense. Blitzing linebackers Bob Woolway and Matt Sabetti bivouacked in the Colgate backfield much of the game. Meanwhile, Woolway combined with defensive ends Marco Coric and Dave Otto to sack the Colgate QB tandem of Alex Mancini and John Marzo five times.

At first, the Red Raiders seemed to be picking up where they left off last year when they ran roughshod over Harvard. Marzo passed to back Jim Comforti for a first down at Harvard's 17-yardline and three plays later Bruce Malverty rolled around right end for a six-yard touchdown run.

Malverty's TD was erased by a clipping penalty but on the next play Marzo threw a dart to co-captain Dick Slenker at the five. Malverty did the honors once again to give the Hamiltonians a 7-0 first quarter lead.

With less than four minutes left in the quarter, Harvard took possession on its own 20 and proceeded to drive downfield. Brown ham-and-egged with his receivers, first hitting Rich Horner on a crossing pattern for a first down on the 41, and then finding himself on the receiving end of a Paul Connors pass. Connors' toss was incomplete but the Colgate defender was whistled down for interference which gave Harvard a first down in Colgate territory.

On first-and-ten at the Colgate 23, Brown hit Connors, who snagged six passes during the day, for a ten-yard pickup. On the next play Matt Granger barrelled all the way down to the goaline but an illegal procedure penalty brought the ball back to the 18-yard-line. The drive foozled when on second down Brown was bushwacked by Ken Ebeling and fumbled over the football.

Colgate seemed to have the momentum when four minutes into the second quarter Potysman came up with the play that both Joe Restic and Colgate coach Fred Dunlap agreed was the gamebreaker. "We've failed to develop a freewheeling offense," said Dunlap, "and when we try to open it up we have a habit of hurting ourselves."

Marzo tried to open it up when on third down, he took to the air from the 50-yard line. Potysman, everyone's beau ideal of a cornerback, stepped in front of intended receiver Mike Gettman for the interception, picked up a block from the ubiquitous Woolway, and blazed 58 yards down the left sideline for the score.

The Crimson offense continued to move the ball and Harvard scored its second touchdown with 2:27 left in the half. First, Brown connected with Horner who went out at the Colgate 35 for a first down. Brown then carried the pigskin himself on four of the next five plays to set up a Crimson first down on the 12. Whirligig halfback Ralph Polillio then bolted up the middle and into the endzone for the six points. Bosnic's point after made the score 14-7.

The defense proceeded to bottle up Colgate and Harvard took over at its own 28 with under a minute left in the half. Two running plays for five-yards brought the clock down to :07. Brown conferred with Restic and on third down he faded back and threw a 40-yard strike to Horner, who was pushed out on the 25-yardline with one second left in the half.

Bosnic trotted on and clipped the ball off the turf as neatly as if it were a dandelion head for a 43-yard field goal. Bosnic's boot gave Harvard a 17-7 lead at the half and proved to be the winning margin in the game.

Restic said afterwards of Horner's key reception, "I told Larry to pump to the seam and then lay the ball up to the slot. The way Horner ran the pattern was just excellent. You don't even get that in pro ball."

Harvard came out and started knocking at the door once again in the third quarter. The Crimson's final touchdown was set up by a 35-yard Brown aerial to split end John MacLeod, a play which Brown called as an audible at the line of scrimmage. MacLeod killed a rattler when he made a snaking, diving grab at the Colgate 13. The score came on third-and-goal when Brown was popped at the two-yard line but shoveled off to Connors, who carried it over.

Restic soon cleared his bench with Brian Buckley spelling Brown and Colgate managed to come back with two fourth quarter touchdowns. "They controlled the ball pretty well in the second half," Restic said, "we had a chance to break it open but we kept it a ballgame."

The Crimson continued to repeatedly blitz in the fourth quarter but less effectively as Mancini and Marzo were able to throw short passes beneath the secondary and whittle away at Harvard's contain defense.

With three minutes left in the game, Colgate made it 24-14 when fullback Angie Colosimo capped a 93-yard drive in 14 plays with a two-yard TD plunge. With four seconds left to play Colosimo caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mancini and then ran over for a two-point conversion to close out the scoring.

Saturday's victory graphically illustrated that Brown can rely on his wide receivers on critical third down plays as Horner and MacLeod combined for four receptions for 98 yards. Restic said, "Larry sees the whole scene downfield much better than before." Horner added, "my feeling is that we can pretty much throw at will."

Harvard's starting defense also has proved in its last two games that it can play a rough-and-tumble brand of football with anyone. Dunlap said after the game, "After watching Harvard bang it up on the field with us I think they were a little bigger and more physical than I had thought. I was impressed."

This weekend Ivy League football season begins in earnest for the Crimson, and if last Saturday's game is any sort of indication, for the next few Saturdays Harvard Stadium should be a football inferno.