Rookies Shelton-Mosley, Reimers Make Early Impact for Football

With just 38 seconds left on the clock during Friday night’s home game against Dartmouth, the Harvard football team was trailing, 13-7. The two undefeated teams were each grappling for sole possession of first place in the Ivy League, and the stakes were even higher for the Crimson, with a 20-game win streak on the line.

Only five yards from the end zone, senior quarterback Scott Hosch looked to his first option, then to his second, and found both in tight coverage. Pressured, Hosch fired to the youngest Crimson jersey, freshman wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley, open and standing just inside the goal line. The rookie snagged the ball, and the 14-point comeback was complete. The win streak lived to see another week.

Shelton-Mosley’s game-winning catch wasn’t the first time that the rookies have played a role in a Harvard victory. On a team where upperclassmen dominate playing time, two freshmen standouts have made a significant impact—Shelton-Mosley and running back Noah Reimers.

Both newcomers have played in a majority of this season’s games, and each has been honored as Ivy League Rookie of the Week, Reimers for his two-touchdown performance against Brown and Shelton-Mosley for his theatrics against Dartmouth. In addition to the last-second score, Shelton-Mosley led the Crimson receivers last week, amassing 71 yards on nine catches against the Big Green.

The freshmen aren’t just one-game standouts, however—they have been consistent in their performances on the field. Over the course of the season, Reimers has rushed for a total of 250 yards and six touchdowns, and Shelton-Mosley has notched a total of 328 yards on 23 receptions.

Their production is even more impressive considering how difficult the transition from high school to Division I football is.

“Just overall, the biggest difference is obviously the speed of the game. Everything happens a lot faster, so it is all about processing things in your mind a lot faster,” Reimers said. “You don’t have a lot of time. You can’t think about what you’re doing. You just have to react.”

Shelton-Mosley noted that speed wasn’t the only drastic difference in college play, however. The rookie had to break old habits to avoid injury on the field, facing off against a bigger defense.

“The first thing is that Mattie K [captain Matt Koran] told me to not cut inside or he’s going to break my neck. So the first thing I did when I got to practice was stop cutting inside,” Shelton-Mosley said.“I used to cut all through the field in high school because guys weren’t that big, but now it’s usually down the sideline. I’ll cut inside occasionally but I always keep that in the back of my mind.”

Based on their statistics, Reimers and Shelton-Mosley have made the transition to college football look easy. Both quickly proved that they each had a good handle on Harvard’s fast-paced offense, making impactful plays early in the season.

In Shelton-Mosley’s first collegiate game, the wideout was able to record a touchdown in the Crimson’s season opener against University of Rhode Island. Two weeks later, Reimers had his turn to shine, posting three touchdowns against Georgetown under the lights in Harvard Stadium.

While Reimers and Shelton-Mosley may have both made a fairly seamless transition into Division I play, each has retained his own unique pregame routine.

“I need to be locked in, studying the playbook, knowing everything I have to know,” Reimers said.“It’s more getting mentally prepared than physically I think. It’s kind of instinctual once you get on the field.”

The wide receiver’s ritual is more specific than the running back’s—and more superstitious.

“I have a certain pair of socks that I wear that my mom got me a while ago, some polka dot socks that I wear under my cleats,” Shelton-Mosley said.“I also listen to two songs, one of them being ‘Fear’ by Kirk Franklin. It gets me prepared because I’m kind of fearful going into each and every game, but it helps me wipe that away.”

But the rookies do share something on game day, the knowledge that their family and friends, either at Harvard Stadium or from home, are watching them play. Reimers hails from Leesburg, Va., and his family has made the trek to Cambridge for each home game.

“Having my family here whenever I play is a really cool feeling,” Reimers said. “They helped me a lot coming here, so whenever they see me play or I play well in front of them, it makes me happy and it’s a highlight for me.”

Shelton-Mosley’s family is a little further, on the opposite coast in Sacramento, Calif., but 3,000 miles away, they still manage to turn each game into a big event.

“My family, instead of coming here, bought the Ivy League package, so they watch every game,” Shelton-Mosley said.“Every game they have a big barbeque. All my family comes over, friends, and they watch the game. Getting that call after the game from my parents just saying that we are proud of you is amazing, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”