Critical Mistakes Plague Gridders

While the Harvard football team played its second straight solid football game Saturday at the Stadium and several times seemed on the verge of upsetting Holy Cross, the Crimson continues to have problems with critical mistakes.

Six turnovers, six sacks and one blocked punt were the difference between the Crusaders, ranked fourth in Division I-AA, and Coach Joe Restic's squad.

"We took ourselves out of drives," Restic said. "We had trouble with the snap--our guards were pulling too deep and knocking the ball out of [Harvard quarterback Tim Perry's] hands."

Perry, who passed for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, finished the game with four interceptions and six sacks.

"Tim Perry did a fine job for us," Restic added, "but he can't take the big loss down there. Inside the opponents' 30-yd. line, we have to come away with points."

With Harvard leading, 14-7, Perry missed tight end Kevin Collins in the end zone and was intercepted by Jim Grady. Trailing in the fourth quarter by seven points, Harvard failed to score on four consecutive drives, three of which ended on turnovers. Derek Lewis' third-quarter punt was blocked, setting up Crusader fullback Joe Segreti's tying touchdown.

"We were able to force turnovers when we had to have them, especially in the second half," Holy Cross Coach Mark Duffner said.

Stage Fright: President Bush, in town Saturday to address Boston police officers, seemed to be more enthusiastic about watching the Holy Cross-Harvard game than about his speech. His private helicopter, Marine One, and its military escort circled the Stadium for about 20 minutes during the second quarter when Harvard was leading, 14-7.

But the President brought more luck for the heavily-favored Crusaders than the home team. Harvard saw its attempt for a third touchdown fail on Grady's goal-line interception as Marine One made a pass over the Stadium.

When the Crimson got the ball back two plays later on the Holy Cross 25-yd, me, Perry fumbled the snap but recovered it. Two plays later, the pressure of playing in front of the chief executive officer of the United States again got to the Crimson when Perry missed the exchange from center. This time, the Crusaders recovered.

As Marine One finally headed back towards Boston, Holy Cross drove 63 yards to set up Scott Kania's 28-yd. field goal and cut the deficit to four. The Crusaders would outscore Harvard, 21-3, the rest of the game.

Sparks Flies: Junior John Sparks made a big impression in his home debut in a Harvard varsity jersey. The 6-ft., 5-in. defensive tackle recorded the Crimson's only sack of the game in the first quarter just after Harvard had tied the score on a Jim Reidy touchdown reception. Sparks helped push Holy Cross signal-caller Tom Ciaccio out of the pocket and eventually chased Ciaccio down for a 17-yd. loss. The Crusaders were forced to punt, setting up the Crimson's second consecutive touchdown drive.

But Sparks received much more attention Sunday, when he was featured tackling a Crusader runner in a full-color picture on the front page of The Boston Globe sports section.

Hold on to Your Hat: Anticipated to wreak havoc with the game, Hurricane Hugo was only a minor factor. It brought no rain at all, though swirling winds caused problems for both teams.

"There were times down there that you were getting moved by the wind," Holy Cross Coach Mark Duffner said. "But it was hard to predict--look, [Harvard] scored both touchdowns driving into the wind."

The wind got so strong in the third quarter that it tilted the goalposts in the closed end of the stadium. Grounds crew workers held the uprights in place for the rest of the contest with the aid of two long pieces of rope wrapped around the posts.

One player not, affected by the wind in the third period was Harvard kicker Brian Kotz, who easily nailed a 35-yd. field goal against the wind despite a high snap. Credit holder Chris Salvaterra with getting the snap down for Kotz' kick.

Pass the Popcorn: The Harvard-Army game Saturday at West Point, N.Y. will be televised by Channel 5.