NOTEBOOK: Offense, Defense Click in Rout of Holy Cross

It was not the Middle Ages nor even yet the middle of the season, but the Harvard football team was on a crusade of its own Friday night, and there was nothing Holy Cross could do to stop it.

Despite playing in a driving rain under the lights at Harvard Stadium, the Crimson (3-0) offense was absolutely dominant, scoring a program-record 49 first-half points before pulling its starters for the final two quarters of the 52-3 rout.

Harvard moved the ball with ease as the Crusader (0-4) defense simply could not get itself off the field. The Crimson went nine for nine on third downs during the half, scoring touchdowns on all six of its possessions and adding a touchdown off a blocked punt for good measure.

“I didn’t see a single positive thing we did on that field tonight,” Crusaders coach Tom Gilmore said.

In his first-ever start, junior wide receiver Ricky Zorn led the team with a career-high six catches for 99 yards. Senior quarterback Colton Chapple hit Zorn over the middle on a 10-yard slant for the game’s first score just 2:11 into the contest, and from there, Harvard was off and running.

The Crimson outgained Holy Cross 394 yards to 92 during the first two quarters as Chapple threw for 260 and four touchdowns while adding a three-yard rushing score as well.

The four touchdown passes placed the senior one shy of the Crimson all-time record, which he tied last season against Bucknell.

Junior tight end Cameron Brate grabbed two of those touchdowns, finding a seam over the middle and beating a linebacker on the first and getting open in the left corner of the end zone on the second.

By the time the clock wound down to halftime, Harvard had already put the game away, surpassing the points record it previously set on Nov. 5, 2005, at Columbia. The victory gave Harvard a bit of revenge for its 30-22 season-opening loss to Holy Cross last season—its only defeat in its last 13 games.

“Harvard’s a very good football team,” Gilmore said. “I give them all the credit in the world.... It’s rare you can find a team that can execute that consistently at that level.”

SOLID STAN-DIN

One of the most impressive performances during the victory came from true freshman Paul Stanton Jr., who had two big sets of shoes to fill Friday night.

The first pair came as a kick returner, as Stanton was giving the job of replacing preseason All-American Seitu Smith, who was out Friday night.

Against the Crusaders, the rookie proved to be a more than suitable fill-in. On his first-ever collegiate touch, Stanton ran the opening kick back 42 yards, setting his team up with solid field position to begin the game.

But it was in the backfield where the freshman really shined. He took over the bulk of the groundwork late in the second quarter and immediately impressed, rushing for 33 yards on his first two carries to set up Harvard’s seventh touchdown.

“He gave us a huge lift,” Murphy said. “He showed us he’s a real player at this level.”

In the second half, Stanton continued to play well, finding big holes and breaking numerous tackles to help him collect 43 more yards on just six carries—a 7.2 yards per attempt average.

The freshman set himself up for a potentially increased workload down the stretch, which could give the Crimson a powerful one-two punch similar to the one it had last season with current senior Treavor Scales and Zach Boden, then another freshman standout running back who has not played this season.

“We would like to balance the running game [in the future],” Murphy said. “But it’s not an easy decision to take Treavor off the field.”

TOTAL D-OMINANCE

Not to be overshadowed by the offense’s record-breaking performance was the play of the Harvard defense, though the unit struggled on the Crusaders’ opening drive. A blown coverage allowed a 65-yard pass to Nate Stanley down the right sideline on Holy Cross’ first play from scrimmage, and the defense then allowed Reed Apfelbaum to get wide open in the end zone on the Crusaders’ next play.

But Holy Cross quarterback Ryan Laughlin underthrew Apfelbaum, the road team was forced to settle for a field goal after two more Crimson stops, and from there, the Crimson defense dominated the rest of the evening.

The unit held the Crusaders to a 3-for-16 conversion rate on third down (1 for 8 in the first half) and allowed just 2.7 yards per carry. Under consistent pressure—Harvard had four sacks on the game—Laughlin completed just 8 of 24 passes for 40 yards after the opening bomb to Stanley.

“It started first with stopping the run, which is the staple of our defense,” said fifth-year senior defensive end John Lyon. “It was very exciting to be able to go out there and have a great defensive effort like we did. Our defense has a lot of pride, and that’s something that we want to try to do each week.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.