Football Adapts To Recent Injuries

For the Harvard football team, this week has been one of many adjustments after losing major players to injuries.

“We’ve had more injuries this year than any year that I can remember in a long time,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “It seems like at every juncture we’re being challenged to fill some gaps.”

Harvard pulled off a last-minute win against Dartmouth last weekend while lacking players in key positions. With a number of starters out, different team members stepped up to contribute to the 24-21 victory.

“When somebody goes down, there’s another player ready to step in,” junior kicker Andrew Flesher said. “Generally most people who are on the two or three deep roster are ready to go for the game.”

Injured members of the team include senior tight end Cameron Brate, senior center David Leopard, junior linebacker Connor Sheehan, sophomore wide receiver Fischer, and senior kicker David Mothander.

Brate has spearheaded the Harvard attack this season with a team-high four touchdown receptions. His recent knee injury, which occurred a week before the Princeton game, means that fellow tight ends senior Tyler Ott, junior Tyler Hamblin, and sophomore Ben Braunecker should see more playing time and responsibility in upcoming games.

Three weeks ago, Mothander was hurt in practice prior to the Lafayette game.  Mothander is the most effective Harvard kicker of all time, holding the Crimson’s career scoring record with 229 points. In his absence, Flesher has been able to step up, namely with the last-minute 23-yard field goal that clinched the win over Dartmouth.

“I was shocked when David went down,” Flesher said. “But being the number two kicker, you pretty much [get] the same number of kicks during the practice week, so as long as you have a good mindset going into Saturday, everything should go pretty smoothly.”

Leopard, who was hurt in the Princeton game, and Sheehan, who went down against Lafayette, had been crucial to the squad’s success. Leopard had been a large presence on an already-depleted offensive line, while Sheehan intercepted and returned a pass for 35 yards and made two tackles in the game where he was injured.

Fischer, who tore his hamstring against Princeton, had caught three touchdown passes on the season in addition to his duties returning kicks.

Other starters have been slowly adapting to working with different players in the positions that sustained injuries. According to Murphy, sophomore tackles Adam Redmond and Cole Toner have been played alongside a new teammate almost every week.

Murphy mentioned that both senior wide receiver Scott Miller and senior offensive lineman Nick Easton, who has taken over Leopard’s duties at center, will have to step up.

“It definitely is very challenging,” Murphy said. “The bottom line is that we have to adapt.”