Football Celebrates Win at Banquet

After an exhilarating weekend of football and parties, Harvard students woke up yesterday morning to a light coat of snow on the ground and the bitter realization that The Game was really over.

In the same fashion, the Harvard football team wasted no time as it held its end-of-season banquet last night at the Harvard Club of Boston.

It was a time to not only celebrate its win over Yale, but to also honor its players.

Establishing himself as a dual specialist in punt returning and receiving, junior Colby Skelton walked away with the Frederick Greenley Crocker Award as Harvard's most valuable player.

Starting in all 10 games, Skelton nabbed 49 passes (tying Brian Barringer '88 for the second-most ever at Harvard) for 691 yards. As a punt returner, the speedy junior retrieved 26 kicks for 278 yards (averaging 10.7 yards per return).

Making history every step of the way, Skelton (1,509 yards) has already surpassed Pat McInally '75 for lone possession of second place for total yardage. McInally's record for career receptions (108) will most likely be broken next year as Skelton has tallied 103 receptions through just three years.

Arguably the heart and soul of the team, Eion Hu added another award to his repertoire as he was honored with the Kennedy Award, acknowledging his desire and determination both on and off the field. Breaking his own records, Hu rushed 250 times for 961 yards this season, surpassing Vic Gatto '69 to become Harvard's all-time leading rusher.

When it looked like he couldn't do any more, Hu ending his outstanding Harvard career against Yale with an unprecedented 177 yards rushing, the most ever by a Crimson runner.

As one season ends, a new one must emerge and the Crimson welcomed the 1996 season by electing junior defensive tackle Brendan Bibro as the team's 124th captain.

After battling through reconstructive knee surgery his freshman year, Bibro's leadership and enthusiasm were not lost upon his teammates.

"Brendon Bibro is simply the most inspirational player on our team," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "He has all the personal qualities that you look for in a captain, and his teammates have truly made an outstanding choice."

Leading a Harvard defense ranked third in Division I-AA against the run and 17th overall, Bibro amassed 48 tackles, 33 of them solo efforts.

Western Pennsylvania has definitely been a gold mine for Harvard football in recent years, as Bibro is the third consecutive Pittsburgh native to take the torch for the Crimson.

Rounding out the awards, senior defensive back Joe Messina was honored with the Lamar award for dedication while senior center Rob Jungerhans took away the LaCroix Trophy for enthusiasm, sportsmanship and loyalty and captain Sean Riley was recognized as the outstanding interior lineman with the Wolf Award

After defeating both Yale and Princeton this season, Harvard had its moments as it captured the Big Three Championship for the first time since 1987.

Last night was a player's moment. It was a time for remembrance as both the seniors and underclassmen were able to bid a fond farewell to the 1995 season.

Just as the dramatic win against Yale on Saturday made the year one to remember for the students trudging to class yesterday, Bibro, Hu and Skelton made the season special for the Harvard team.