NOTEBOOK: Chapple Comes Through for Crimson

The decision was made last Sunday morning—with senior Andrew Hatch sidelined, untested sophomore Colton Chapple would get the starting nod at quarterback. Throw in a knee injury to senior wideout Chris Lorditch, and, even against a weak Lafayette team, Chapple faced a daunting task. But with his team desperate for a win following its pummeling at the hands of Brown, the sophomore signal caller did what was asked of him—and more—to propel the Crimson to victory Saturday.

“Being a backup, you always have to be ready, you always have to prepare like you’re the starter,” Chapple said. “In this case, I was fortunate enough to start my first game, so I just wanted to come in, be productive, not turn the ball over, and give the offense a chance to win the game.”

From the outset, it was clear the sophomore would not be shouldered with the offensive burden that Hatch carries. With a dominant run game and the offensive line returning to form, the young quarterback rarely took the chance to throw. Instead, with Crimson coach Tim Murphy emphasizing ball security, Chapple attempted just 11 passes, completing six for 82 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Kyle Juszczyk in the second quarter. The throw on a rollout was Chapple’s first career score.

But most importantly, the sophomore managed to calm his nerves to play mistake-free football all game, as the Crimson didn’t turn the ball over once after three giveaways last week.

“[I was] probably [feeling] more nerves than pressure,” Chapple said. “You come to Harvard to play college football—I was real excited, real nervous. But pressure, no.”

HATCH’S HEAD

Of course, Chapple was in position to start largely because of the helmet-to-helmet impact Hatch endured when Brown’s Stephen Peyton crunched him on his first play from scrimmage last week. The quarterback finished that contest despite suffering a concussion, and even on film it was clear just how much the hit took out of him.

“The shot [Hatch] took—first of all, I can’t believe it wasn’t a penalty. It was one of the worst helmet-to-helmet hits i’ve ever seen on video tape,” Lafayette coach Frank Tavani said. “That happened so hard, so I ran it back like 20 times. I couldn’t believe it, and I couldn’t believe he got up.”

Unfortunately for Hatch, the toughness that kept him in the game against the Bears will do nothing to speed up his recovery. With concussion regulations more stringent than ever, the Crimson will undoubtedly take every precaution before letting its starter return to the field, but Murphy appeared confident that the team’s outlook included Hatch.

“[A new quarterback] changed [the game plan] today, but it’s not going to change in the long run,” the coach said.

In other words, Harvard very much expects its senior starter back on the field in due time.

DIRTY LAUNDRY

While Harvard seemed to need little help during its dominant performance, the Leopards provided plenty by shooting themselves in the foot. Lafayette racked up 10 penalties for 109 yards, and they always seemed to come at inopportune moments.

In the second quarter, following a holding penalty on a punt return that pushed the Leopards back to their own 10-yard line, the home team managed to dig itself an even deeper hole with back-to-back infractions. A false start penalty on second down moved the ball back to the seven, and Lafayette could not regroup in time to avoid a delay of game.

“They looked a little like we did last week, quite frankly,” Murphy said. “And it’s tough. Sometimes you just get on a negative roll, [and] it’s hard to undo yourself.”

Indeed, things only got worse for the Leopards, who even managed to pick up a facemask and personal foul penalty on the same play to move Harvard all the way from the Lafayette 44 to the 14 in the third quarter. Just five minutes later the Leopards set the Crimson up for its final score of the afternoon, bailing out a stalled drive by roughing sophomore punter Jacob Dombrowski to give Harvard a first down. Sophomore Rich Zajeski took advantage by powering into the endzone for his first career touchdown.

Tavani’s frustration peaked on the very next play, when Jet Kollie’s 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was called back for an illegal block. The normally-reserved head coach exploded at the officiating crew, running onto the field to plead his case.

“There’s no question, I certainly lost my poise at that point,” Tavani said. “The frustration just came out...To have a kid make a great play like that and get that call away from the play, I just at that point had had enough, and rather than hold it in and have a stroke, I let it out.”

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.