Saturday, September 20, 2008

Re: Harvard 25 - Holy Cross 24

  • The first Friday night game at Harvard Stadium attracted a crowd of 20,462, and senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti sent the spectators into the night buzzing, throwing for 370 yards as the Crimson roared back with 19 fourth-quarter points to beat Holy Cross, 25-24.
  • it wasn't until he scored on his second 1-yard touchdown run in less than five minutes, with 1:42 remaining, that the Crimson (1-0) went ahead.
  • Holy Cross led, 17-6, to start the fourth quarter and was poised to increase its lead when Harvard's Eric Schultz dumped Crusaders quarterback Dominic Randolph for a 9-yard loss, forcing a fumble. Schultz recovered.
  • On the ensuing drive, Pizzotti floated a pass to Marco Iannuzzi (11 catches, 174 yards), who hauled it in at the 31 and outran a pair of Holy Cross defenders for the 68-yard score. The 2-point conversion failed, but Holy Cross was reeling.
Harvard cornerback Andrew Berry is too good to be true.
  • The Crimson senior was named a preseason All-American by The Sports Network on the heels of his selection last year to the All-Ivy first team and ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America first team.
  • He started every game in Harvard's 8-2 Ivy championship season, and went four straight without having a ball thrown against him in one-on-one coverage.
  • He ranked fourth on the team in passes defended (nine) with an interception and a forced fumble.
  • He's got a twin brother, Adam, who is a wide receiver for Princeton, but he's never let Adam catch a pass against him.
  • He's got smarts, too. He is a top student, concentrating in economics but also becoming so accomplished in computer science that in his junior year, he became a teaching fellow for the introductory course he took as a freshman.
  • He's involved in the community, tutoring at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School and participating in campus Christian groups, and, said Harvard coach Tim Murphy, "There's not a phony bone in his body."
  • Holy Cross, the Crusaders took a 31-28 victory last year, connecting for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds remaining.
  • Murphy, whose defense ranked in the nation's top five in five categories last season. "In my mind, he may be the best defensive back in the country.

On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 11:50 PM, Phillip Stern <phillip.stern@gmail.com> wrote:
The boys and I watched Harvard come back to beat Holy Cross 25-24 with a last minute touchdown.
It was perfect football weather and fun to watch under the new lights at the stadium.  It was quite crowded with 22,000 in attendance.

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