Scrimmage Spotlights Football's Fresh Faces

This spring, Harvard football coach Tim Murphy has overseen the development of a number of underclassmen that are being groomed to replace the numerous holes created by graduation.

The Crimson’s spring game last Friday put those efforts on display, as the defense faced off against the offense in the annual intrasquad scrimmage. On a day that was dominated by defense but also showed the big-play ability of the offense, the biggest story was on the sidelines.

Many of next year’s projected starters were not available to play. Harvard’s fifth-year quarterback, Neil Rose, is on leave for the spring. Senior Carl Morris, junior running back Nick Palazzo and sophomore Matt Fratto were also unable to dress due to injury.

The defense was similarly shorthanded with sophomore linebacker Dante Balestracci, junior defensive end Mike Armstrong, junior defensive tackle Greg Parker and freshman cornerback Gary Sonkur all sidelined.

That left many opportunities for other players to step up on Friday.

After freshman Sean Tracy set the tone for the game with his early interception return for a touchdown, the defense took a big lead on the strength of a series of fourth-down stops.

The rest of the secondary, which returns only one starter in sophomore Benny Butler, also played well. Chris Raftery, who is getting his first extensive playing time after being injured for most of the last two seasons, was particularly impressive.

On the defensive line, sophomores Brendan McCafferty and junior Jesse Brush played well, especially in the absence of Parker. At defensive end—a position with no returning starter and weakened by Armstrong’s injury—junior Pat Lavin put in a strong performance Friday.

Also, sophomore Brian Garcia, who has had a breakout spring, showed promise and will complete an inexperienced but deep defensive line.

“The coaches were generally pleased with how the first defense played,” McCafferty said. “We basically stopped the first offense the whole day.”

The 2001 Harvard squad set a new benchmark for excellence by going 9-0 and winning its first Ivy League title since 1997 and 10th overall.

Over the course of the season, Harvard completed the largest comeback victory in its 128-year history against Dartmouth and defeated Yale in the 118th playing of “The Game.” It was Harvard’s first undefeated and untied season since 1913, when Percy Haughton, Class of 1899, was coach and Charlie Brickley, Class of 1915, was the team’s star.

Last season’s team was carried by a new generation of standouts, including Rose, Morris and Balestracci. Harvard also benefited from stellar offensive and defensive line play, as well as an experienced secondary and linebacking corps.

But graduation has changed the team’s makeup going into next year, raising questions about the team’s prospects next fall and heightening the interest in this spring’s workouts.

Rose, who missed the 1999 season due to injury, will be returning to the Crimson as team captain next fall. The team he will return to lead will be missing the services of all-Ivy seniors Willie Alford, Andy Fried, Marc Laborsky, Ryan Fitzgerald and Eric LaHaie.

But the most noticeable change for Rose will be the loss of most of his offensive line. Only junior Jamil Soriano and Fratto are returning from a vaunted offensive line that included all-Ivy selections Steve Collins, Dan Kistler, Jason Hove and Justin Stark.

Yet the outlook is far from bleak for the 2002 Harvard football team. Aside from Rose, Harvard will retain the services of Morris—the Ivy League Player of the Year—along with Ballestracci, who was selected as First Team All-New England.

Most importantly, after rumors circulated about his possible departure to Delaware and Navy, Murphy will be back for his ninth season behind the helm.

Despite the loss of seniors Mike Cataldo and Shawn Parker, the heart of the Harvard defense remains the linebackers. The offseason transition of junior Niall Murphy from safety to linebacker has reinserted some experience to the position, but Harvard will still be relying heavily on junior John Perry and sophomore Jeffery Reiman.

During the spring game, Reiman had two batted balls along with numerous tackles after spending the last two seasons without a permanent position.

“[Coach] Murphy said he was pleased with where the defense was and said we might have been a little ahead of the offense,” McCafferty said. “That isn’t necessarily a bad thing because offense usually takes a bit more time to get in-sync.”

Although it lost on Friday to the defense, the offense was impressive at times and its freshman playmakers showed glimpses of the future.

After falling behind early in the game, the offense battled back with big runs by freshman Nick Carrington, and long balls to freshman receiver Brian Edwards and junior Kyle Cremarosa.

The area of greatest interest and inexperience was the offensive line. Joining Soriano and Fratto are juniors Jack Fadule, Nate Torinus, Joe Price, Dan Wiedle and sophomore Joe Mujalli. All put in solid performances , and at almost 300 ponds per man, look to recreate some of the success enjoyed by their predecessors.

At the tight end spot, Fratto’s absence allowed freshman Adam Jenkins and Zach Puchtel to log many minutes on Friday. Both appeared shaky at times, but as they gain experience, they should add depth to the position.

“Most of the guys on the offensive line have been in the program for four years,” said Price. “ I think the combination of our age and size will help us dominate next year.”

The wide receivers put on the most exciting show at the spring game.

Cremarosa, who was away last semester, showed why he and Morris will form of one of the Ivy League’s best receiver tandems.

The position is deep, with many talented underclassmen backing up the starters. Junior Adam Gordon has had a strong spring, along with freshman Rodney Byrnes and Edwards, who had a number of good catches at the spring game.

A pleasant surprise was the performance of freshman K.C. Cleary, who moved from quarterback to wide-receiver just before the spring game.

In Rose’s absence, two freshman were charged with running the offense.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was the architect of Harvard’s comeback against Dartmouth in place of an injured Rose, led the first-string offense and made a number of good throws as well as an impressive touchdown run to cut into the defense’s lead.

On the second team, lefty Garett Schires was effective in his first performance for the Crimson since putting on a good showing against Columbia last year in relief. This position is one where the Crimson is both deep and experienced, giving the team hope for next year and beyond.

“I feel like the offense has caught up to the defense because it takes longer to gel and become a unit,” said Price. “We haven’t played to our full potential yet, but come the fall we should be very explosive.”

That explosive offense looks to be the hallmark of next year’s team. This spring has shown the progress the Crimson has made in replacing it’s accolade-laden seniors, and increased expectations about next year. Another undefeated season will be tough but may not lie outside the capabilities of this 2002 squad.