Record-breaking weekend for Dawson in lopsided victory

Clifton Dawson broke two Ivy League career records yesterday as the Harvard football team beat Cornell by a score of 33-23 in front of 13,287 fans at Harvard Stadium.

Dawson became the Ivy League’s all-time leading scorer on the game’s opening kickoff, a 93-yard return for a touchdown that put the Crimson (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) up 7-0 just 17 seconds into the game. He scored three total touchdowns against the Big Red (1-3, 0-2 Ivy) defense, giving him 56 for his career, two ahead of Brown’s Nick Hartigan.

Junior Chris Pizzotti started at quarterback in his second game since returning from a knee injury, going 15-for-24 for 231 yards and a touchdown and an interception, while Dawson finished the day with 97 yards on 18 carries. He now sits just 545 yards behind Cornell’s Ed Marinaro for first on the all-time Ivy League career yardage list, with six games to play.

The Big Red came out passing in the first quarter, airing the ball out on the first four plays of its first possession before finally punching it in with Cornell tailback Luke Siwula from four yards out, tying the game at 7-7. After a Big Red field goal, Pizzotti hit a wide open Corey Mazza in the endzone for a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Mazza’s day included six catches for 99 yards, which paced the Crimson receiving core.

Junior Matt Schindel kicked a career-long 42-yard field goal to open the second quarter before Dawson’s two scores made the margin a lopsided 30-10 at halftime.

A third-quarter Schindel field goal and two late Cornell scores made the final score 33-23, giving Harvard its eighth straight win dating back to last year.

The Crimson will play at home again next weekend, as it looks to improve to 5-0 against Lafayette at 12:30pm at Harvard Stadium.