Ivy League Football Round-up

In spite of the vicious rivalry between Harvard and Yale, both teams now share one common bond: last-minute defeats at the hands of Cornell on its home turf.

Last season's Ivy League king of fourth-quarter comebacks, the Big Red (1-1, 1-0 Ivy) pulled off another improbable victory last Saturday when junior quarterback Ricky Rahne connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Joe Splendorio to tie the game up with 2:16 left. Peter Iverson's extra-point kick put Cornell up for good, 24-23.

The Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1 Ivy) had one last shot at glory when junior quarterback Peter Lee (20-of-35, 325 yards) completed three consecutive passes in the final minute and hit Keith Reams at the Cornell 14 with two seconds left to set up a possible game-winning field goal. However, Mike Murawczyk's 32-yard attempt went wide left, and the Big Red ended up pulling off another surprising upset.

With the win in its first league contest, Cornell found redemption after a harsh defeat at the hands of Bucknell to start their season. After managing only 26 yards in the Big Red's rushing attack last week, Evan Simmons had 117 yards on 25 carries against the Bulldogs.

Despite dominating its opponents in total yards, 442-362, the loss signaled the end of Yale's 10-game winning streak, which dated back to last year's season opener at Brown.

Against Cornell, Yale running back Rashad Bartholomew turned in another stellar performance, finishing with 180 yards and a touchdown.

New Hampshire 42, Dartmouth 21

Dartmouth (0-2, 0-0 Ivy) continued its struggles of last season with another defeat, this time at the hands of cross-state rival New Hampshire.

In the first meeting in seven years between the green state foes, New Hampshire (4-0) rocketed to a 35-0 lead behind three long touchdown passes of 39, 75, and 60 yards by quarterback Ryan Day. Running back Stephan Lewis ran for 100 yards in 21 rushing attempts and also had 96 yards receiving, finishing with three touchdowns on the day.

Made to play catch-up in the second half, the Big Green's Greg Smith completed 28 passes in 47 attempts for 278 yards with three TDs. Damien Roomets caught 17 passes for 201 yards with two touchdowns, one late in each half. Dartmouth begins its Ivy League campaign next week at Penn.

Penn 45, Lafayette 28

Penn secured its 725th victory in school history this weekend by defeating Lafayette (1-2) in front of a home crowd in Philadelphia. The Quakers (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) took a quick 24-7 lead against their fellow Pennsylvania counterparts, with Gavin Hoffman reaching the 300-yard plateau in passing for the second straight week. Hoffman completed 24 of 34 attempts, including a four-yard pass to Doug O'Neill in the closing minutes to seal the victory.

After jumping out to a 38-7 lead late in the third quarter, the Quakers almost lost control of a commanding lead when an interception by Kenya Allen of the Leopards set up a Chad Ritchie to Stewart Kupfer two-yard TD to bring Lafayette to within ten points. However, Hoffman struck back with an 80-yard scoring drive to end the game. Harvard plays Lafayette next week in Easton, PA.

Bucknell 12, Columbia 10

Columbia suffered from a role reversal Saturday when Bucknell came up with a shocking 12-10 victory last weekend. After coming back from a halftime deficit last week against Fordham, the Lions (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) had a 10-6 lead heading into the final minute, but Bucknell's Lucas Phillps hit Jim Horan for an 8-yard TD with just 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Justin Lustig finished off the Lions when he intercepted Jeff McCall's pass with five seconds left. Bucknell (2-1) tailback Jabu Powell continued his romping of Ivy League defenses by rushing for 124 yards and a TD, after a 282-yard performance against Cornell a week earlier.

Lehigh 20, Princeton 18

Lehigh continued its dominance over the Ivy League Saturday by squeezing out an unexpectedly close 20-18 victory over Princeton.

While Lehigh's ninth consecutive victory over Ivy foes seemed secure in the middle of the fourth quarter, Princeton (0-2, 0-0 Ivy) came within a two-point conversion of sending the game into overtime with 1:18 left after running back Kyle Brandt's four-yard TD run. However, the Lehigh (3-0) defense stiffened, and it stopped an end-around option play that would have tied the game and ran out the clock to keep the Tigers winless.

Princeton begins its Ivy League campaign against Columbia next Saturday.