Timmy Gleason ’28
Staff Writer
This past Saturday, the Holy Cross Football Team lined up to face Harvard University on a very special occasion: Homecoming Weekend. Alumni, visitors, and players’ families packed the Fitton baseball field for tailgates prior to kickoff, and then made their way into the stadium to watch the Crimson and Crusaders go head-to-head. The sunshine beat down on the 15,549 in-person spectators as the whistle was blown to initiate the first quarter.
The Crusaders did not get off to the start they would have wanted to, as they went down 21-0. Harvard University senior quarterback Jaden Craig completed two touchdown passes, the first going to junior tight end Logan Reaska and the second caught by first-year wide receiver Tafari Moe, which sandwiched a two-yard rushing score by senior running back Isaiah Bullock.
Each of Harvard’s scoring drives were less than three minutes of game time (five seconds, two-minutes and twenty-two seconds, and forty seconds, respectively) highlighting their offensive efficiency. The first quarter drives from Holy Cross ended in an interception, fumbles, and punts.
Harvard scored once more via a 22-yard field goal before the Crusaders got on the board with a field goal of their own by senior kicker Luis Palenzuela 34 yards out.
The Crimson responded emphatically with a 9 play, 79-yard drive that lasted 4 minutes and 21 seconds and took the wind out of the Crusaders’ sails. Harvard ultimately tacked on one more score before the ending of the second quarter to make it an astounding 38-3 score at halftime.
The offensive firepower of the Crimson could not be stopped as they ran (twice) and passed their way to accumulate more points.
Junior backup quarterback Dante Torres replaced Craig in the second half and made an immediate impact, connecting on a 33-yard strike to Sophomore receiver Brady Blackburn.
With just under nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, Holy Cross quarterback Cal Swanson recorded his first of three passing touchdowns on the day, a 44-yard bomb to first-year running back Joseph Williams on a wheel route.
Crimson running backs Jordan Harris and Maddux Reid added the last couple of counts for Harvard. Each had a touchdown to their name.
The fourth quarter included only Holy Cross scores with first-year Lincoln Fisher catching a 15-yard pass from Cal Swanson for his first collegiate score.
Sophomore wide receiver Alijah Cason wrapped up the last of what seemed like endless touchdowns within the game, claiming his first reception touchdown of the year for Holy Cross.
This game versus the Harvard Crimson was the final nonconference game that the Crusaders will play this year.
This weekend warrants a bye week, during which the team will reflect on aspects of their game to tweak and improve as they look towards the rest of their season.
Following their bye week, Holy Cross will make the voyage down to Richmond, Va. to take on brand new Patriot League foe, the University of Richmond (3-3 overall, 0-2 Patriot League record) on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 2:00 pm.
Featured image courtesy of the @hcrossfb on Instagram
Copy Edited by Molly Croft ’29
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