Sophomore Shines with New Quarterback

The Harvard football team has had both bad and good luck so far this season. The bad includes the injuries that have ravaged its depth chart. The good—the blossoming players filling the holes on the field. When a concussion sidelined senior quarterback Andrew Hatch, sophomore signal-caller Colton Chapple stepped up to the plate as the starter and has found a rhythm with new players, especially sophomore tight end Kyle Juszczyk.

Last week in a loss to Lehigh, the pair connected on five passes for 58 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown strike in the second quarter.

Juszczyk has made a strong impression ever since his arrival on campus. As a freshman, he appeared in all 10 games, tallying 128 receiving yards on 11 catches with touchdowns against Columbia, Dartmouth, and Princeton. Against the Lions, he also had a team-best five catches for 42 yards.

Juszczyk’s passion for football was born in the fifth grade when he was the ball boy for Cloverleaf High School in Lodi, Ohio—the team on which his brothers played at the time and he would later join.

“Being around [my brothers] and being with the high school team got me interested in football,” Juszczyk explained.

As a high school student, Juszczyk played multiple positions and was the captain of the team for two years. On offense he played quarterback, running back, receiver, and tight end, and on defense he played inside linebacker. A true jack-of-all-trades, Juszczyk believes that playing all of those different positions in high school made a difference in how he plays today.

“It’s been a good transition,” Juszczyk said. “I did a lot of different things in high school and that helped me—like playing quarterback and running back and receiver. It made me a better receiver in college.”

Just as his switch from high school to college was relatively smooth, Juszczyk has handled the transition between freshman and sophomore year gracefully.

“I think there’s been a big difference between freshman and sophomore year. Freshman year you’re learning a whole new playbook, a whole new place to live in, all new people. It’s pretty overwhelming,” Juszczyk said. “Sophomore year, I’m definitely settled in. I have a year under my belt. It’s more comfortable this year, and I’m a lot more confident.”

As the new quarterback stepping onto the field, Chapple’s first career touchdown pass was to Juszczyk—a nine-yard completion in the Crimson’s win over Lafayette. Since that play, the relationship between the two players has continued to grow. Over Harvard’s past three games—against the Leopards, the Mountain Hawks, and Cornell—Juszczyk has become one of Chapple’s go-to targets.

“He’s got great hands and runs great routes, and he’s a big target,” Chapple said. “Tight ends are really a quarterback’s best friend.”

Ironically, the tight end and the quarterback really are close friends as the two have a strong relationship both on and off the field. In fact, the sophomores are roommates in Pforzheimer House. Chapple believes that friendship makes a difference in the pair’s performance on the gridiron.

“The trust factor is definitely a big part [of the game],” Chapple said. “I trust that if I give him the ball, he’ll make a play.”

The Crimson has benefited from the duo’s rapport in its last three games. Aside from the five catches and 58 receiving yards against Lehigh, Chapple and Juszczyk hooked up for a combined four receptions, 32 yards, and a touchdown against Lafayette and the Big Red.

The bond that the two have formed has become a team joke because of their unique relationship.

“The coaching staff kind of jokes that he’s paying me to throw him the ball because we’re roommates,” Chapple said. “But I’ve loved playing with him these past three games.”

Juszczyk agreed with his teammate.

“It’s just kind of special,” Juszczyk said. “After the game, my family meets up with his family. It’s pretty cool...to be able to say that we’re playing together out there and making stuff happen.”