Around the League: Week 3

Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, and Lafayette survived to grab wins during a tense weekend around the league, while #6 New Hampshire rolled over Dartmouth.

Harvard and Brown led off a mostly tight Ivy League weekend with a thriller in Cambridge last Friday night. Trailing by ten with under a minute left in the fourth quarter, Brown began a furious comeback attempt when versatile wideout Bobby Sewall caught an eight yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero. The Bears (0-2, 0-1) were able to recover the ensuing onsides kick, eventually setting up three failed passes to the end zone from the Harvard 25 on the game’s final three plays. Junior quarterback and first year starter Collier Winters was the standout for the Crimson (1-1, 1-0), accounting for all three Harvard touchdowns in the 24-21 win and earning Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors.

There was more late game drama on Saturday in the Yale Bowl, as Cornell held off Yale on the road for a win in a game that aired nationally on Versus. Cornell (2-0, 1-0) scored on their first offensive play of the game with a trick play, as senior wide receiver Stephen Liuzza hit Bryan Walters for an 81 yard touchdown pass. Yale (1-1, 0-1) dominated the rest of the game statistically, completing 15 first downs to Cornell’s 3, and running 35 more offensive plays than did the Big Red. Yet, Yale quarterback Patrick Witt’s first of three fourth quarter interceptions was returned for a touchdown by Ivy League defender of the week Anthony Ambrosi, stretching Cornell’s second half cushion to 14-6.

Witt was almost able to make amends in the final moments, as Yale gained possession with 1:37 remaining in the fourth quarter. The sophomore quarterback marched the Bulldogs into the red zone, and scored on a third and goal run with no time remaining. But the two point conversion try to tie the game fell incomplete, ruining the home debut for Yale head coach Tom Williams, and sending the Bulldogs to a 14-12 defeat.

Penn also nearly succeeded in their comeback effort Saturday, scoring two unanswered third quarter touchdowns to force overtime against Lafayette in Easton, Pa. Penn senior Kyle Olson threw for 83 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter to lead the response while junior linebacker Zach Heller had 13 tackles (3.0 for a loss) and 1 sack to hold the Leopards.

In overtime, Penn (0-2, 0-0) kicker Andrew Samson missed his second 42 yard field goal of the game, allowing Lafayette (2-1) to convert on their first OT possession with a 28 yarder to seal a 20-17 victory.

Princeton also visited a Patriot League opponent this weekend in Bethlehem as the Tigers picked up their first win of the year against Lehigh. Despite losing reigning Ivy League rushing champion Jordan Culbreath early with an injury, Princeton was able to hold an early lead to edge out a 17-14 victory.

Lehigh (0-3) starting quarterback JB Clark was replaced after two interceptions, as the Mountain Hawks’ sloppy play prevented them from capitalizing on their possession advantage. Lehigh out-possessed Princeton (1-1, 0-0) by over twelve minutes and ran 28 more offensive plays in the losing effort.

The game was decided for Princeton on two big first half plays: quarterback Tommy Wornham’s 67 yard touchdown dash and linebacker Steven Cody’s 77 yard interception return for a touchdown.

The only game on the Ivy slate that ended in a rout was Dartmouth’s matchup with #6 New Hampshire. The Big Green (0-2, 0-0) stayed in the game early, out-possessing nationally ranked New Hampshire (3-0) by four and a half minutes in the first half and trailing by just six at half time.

However, 3 fumbles lost and 2 interceptions caught up with Dartmouth, who faced a second half onslaught and were outscored 24-0 over the final two quarters en route to a 44-14 loss.

Sophomore tail back Nick Schwieger rushed for 119 yards and senior quarterback Alex Jenny was 20-29 with 166 yards and two touchdowns for Dartmouth in the loss.