Three Classy Freshmen

Just over a decade ago, wide receiver Corey Mazza, tailback Clifton Dawson and defensive back Danny Tanner would not have been allowed to play football at Harvard

Why? Because they were freshmen.

Until 1992, the Ivy League banished freshmen to the purgatory that is junior varsity football in an effort to give them time to adjust to the rigors of college life.

Fortunately for Harvard, it’s the 21st century. If it weren’t, the No. 20 Crimson (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) might not be undefeated.

In last week’s 34-27 comeback victory over Lafayette, the Class of 2007 accounted for every one of the Crimson’s five TDs. Dawson posted 218 yards—the second most ever by a Harvard back at Harvard Stadium—along with four rushing scores, while Mazza’s sliding, behind-the-head, seven-yard TD reception kickstarted the Crimson comeback. Junior quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick emphatically called it “the best play of the year.”

And Tanner? All he’s done is post more tackles than any Harvard freshman since Dante Balestracci, while seeing significant time in only two games, both with a broken hand.

With starters going down seemingly every week since preseason practice, freshmen have been moving up the depth chart.

First there was the season-ending injury to wide receiver Kyle Cremarosa in a preseason scrimmage, which propeled Mazza into the receiver rotation. Then there was the two-game absence of junior wideout Rodney Byrnes with an ankle sprain, leaving Mazza as a primary target.

The 6’3” California native took advantage of the opportunity, racking up 10 catches for 216 yards in his first five games. He leads all Harvard receivers in yards per catch (21.6), and his three TD receptions trail only junior Brian Edwards (5). He was also twice named the league’s Rookie of the Week for his performances against Brown and Cornell.

“He obviously had some really big shoes to fill playing for both Creme and Rodney,” Edwards said, “and he has done a fantastic job.”

Through the third week of the season, sophomore tailback Ryan Tyler had been splitting carries with the speedster Dawson. But when Tyler bruised his ribs against Northeastern, the transfer from Northwestern started to see the large majority of the carries. The result? 287 yards in two games.

For the season, he has rushed for 388 yards in four games (97.0 ypg) with five TDs.

“If you really want to look at one of the reasons why we’re still undefeated, we’ve had a lot of guys go down and guys have just stepped up every point of the way,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy last Saturday.

Finally, midway through the fourth game of the season at Cornell, junior cornerback Gary Sonkur left the field with a high ankle sprain. Murphy simply inserted a reserve true freshman, who has posted 11 tackles in just over six quarters of football.

Sonkur—who is still not practicing and is doubtful to play this week—is confident in his replacement.

“Danny’s the man,” Sonkur said. “He’s a great athlete. He’s probably one of the best athletes on the team, and even though he’s young, he picks stuff up quickly. He’s going to be a star.”

The team has its share of veterans that were impact freshman. Senior cornerback Benny Butler is on his way to his fourth letter. Fitzpatrick was the first freshman ever to start at quarterback for Harvard, and led the Crimson in the biggest comeback of its 120 year history in the game. Balestracci was the first freshman ever to be named first-team all-Ivy.

But no group of freshman in recent memory has contributed like this trio. ’07 may prove to be in a class all its own.

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu