Senior Cornerback Takes Aim at Record Books

Time and time again his name has graced these pages.

He is part of the best secondary Harvard fans have seen in years, which boasts three of the top four defenders in the Ivy League in pass breakups—and that doesn’t even include preseason All-American Andrew Berry.

But in a sea of talent, his numbers consistently stick out. On Saturday, cornerback Steven Williams continued his eye-popping senior season.

Although Williams’ credentials are hard to dispute—coming into the matchup against Princeton he had four interceptions and nine pass breakups on the season—the corner credits his defensive teammates with his success.

“I’d love to say that I’m out there making Deion-esque great plays, but that’s not the case,” Williams said. “I’m getting so much help out there. I think this is the best secondary I’ve been a part of in my time here, and I think this [game was] a statement for everyone who was out there watching, and hopefully we’ll do the same thing for the rest of the season.”

Williams has become a right-place-at-the-right-time kind of guy. In last weekend’s win over Lafayette he was the beneficiary of junior linebacker Glenn Dorris’ pressure, as Leopards quarterback Mike DiPaola threw an ill-advised pass right into Williams’ arms and Williams returned it 91 yards for a touchdown.

Against Princeton, junior linebacker Eric Schultz hurried second-string Tigers quarterback Greg Mroz on Williams’ first interception. As the Princeton quarterback situation to devolve, Williams went to work. His second pick came from third-stringer Brian Anderson’s pass into double coverage.

“Again, like last week’s interception, this week it was Eric Schultz on the pressure on the first interception, and John Hopkins was where he was supposed to be, and that kind of forced the overthrow on the second one,” Williams said.

Williams finished with two tackles, a pass breakup, and the two interceptions, making this his fourth game with a pick this season and the second time he has had multiple interceptions in a game.

Although Harvard faced a weakened wide receiving corps in the Lafayette game, no such excuse can be made for the Tigers. Senior Brendan Circle and juniors Will Thanheiser and Adam Berry—Andrew Berry’s twin brother—make up one of the strongest groups of receivers in the league. The Harvard ‘D’ held Princeton to just 10 completions on 28 attempts for a total of 84 yards, thanks in part to multiple dropped passes.

“A lot of the things that caused us duress today were the fact that we didn’t do some fundamental things right,” said Princeton head coach Roger Hughes. “We turned the ball over late—now, granted, Williams is a good corner, and he made a couple good plays when our quarterback came under duress.”

“They have some tremendous athletes in their secondary,” Circle added. “Steve and Andrew are tremendous athletes, and [Doug Hewlett]...They certainly disrupted some things and they had a great game.”

The secondary as a whole has been making trouble for Ivy and Patriot League foes alike, and Williams has been turning heads with his monster stats.

He came into the weekend leading Division I-AA in pass defenses and ranked fourth on the list in interceptions. His two picks on the day bumped his season total to six—two short of the Harvard single-season record—and his career total to 14, just one shy of the 59-year-old school record held by Ken O’Donnell ’49.

With perennial doormat Dartmouth in town next weekend, be sure to keep an eye on number two, arms open, waiting to make history.

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.