In the 151 years of Harvard football there have been many players who have stepped into the breach to rescue the Crimson. (Think Frank Kenneth Champi ’69, “Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29.”) Now the name of Charles P. DePrima ’25 must be added to the annals.
On Saturday it was bail-out time. The Crimson was on the road, at ancient Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Harvard’s splendid starting quarterback, junior Jaden Craig, had been knocked out of the game in the first quarter. With the shadows lengthening, the opponent, Penn, had just scored to take a two-touchdown lead.
Fortunately, the Crimson has two starting quarterbacks, a No. 1 and a No. 1A. With the latter, DePrima, coolly directing a comeback, Harvard swiftly forged a 21-21 tie. Then, after again falling behind, the Crimson rallied and scored the last 10 points, the final three coming on a final-play field goal by untried rookie kicker Dylan Fingersh. The result was a stirring 31-28 victory, Harvard’s seventh straight and one that moved the Crimson (ranked No. 20 or No. 22 in the Football Championship Subdivision) to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in Ivy League play. Penn dropped to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in league games.
Most important for the Crimson, thanks to Dartmouth’s upset loss to Cornell, Harvard is now guaranteed a share of the 2024 Ivy championship—its second in a row and nineteenth overall. (Last year’s, of course, came under coach Tim Murphy.) A victory over Yale this coming Saturday in The Game will mean an outright title. (Plus braggin’ rights over Eli supporters; it’s up to you as to which is more important.) Columbia, which like Dartmouth has two losses, also is in the championship mix.
Andrew Aurich, first-year Stephenson Family head coach for Harvard football, downplayed his role in the title run, instead lauding his players. “I’m more happy for them than I am for myself, because they’re the ones who put in most of the work,” he said. “I feel like I was just a small part of the cog.” However, he and offensive coordinator Mickey Fein were the ones who saw a vital role for Deprima even if he wasn’t the starting quarterback. Moreover, said Aurich on Saturday, “he was always one play away” from being inserted as signal-caller—and that play came in Saturday’s first quarter.
During that period there was no scoring but much activity of consequence. First, a promising opening drive by the Crimson, on which Craig smartly completed his first four passes, stalled at the Quaker 25. Freshman Kieran Corr was called on to try a 43-yard field goal. He missed, wide right, a continuation of his erratic booting this season. Then on Harvard’s next drive, on fourth-and-three from the Penn 48, Craig scrambled for five yards but was met in open space by Quaker linebacker John Lista. The resulting hellacious collision left Craig down on the turf, from which he was stretchered, not to return. Here was the “one play” of which Aurich had spoken. Now the helm was DePrima’s, the former starting quarterback who has carved out a place for himself as a jack-of-all-trades back.
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Penn broke through in the second quarter. The running of marvelous Quaker back Malachi Hosley (game-high 143 yards) forced the Crimson defense to tighten, allowing quarterback Liam O’Brien (the Quakers’ backup, replacing injured Aiden Sayin) to open up the attack and toss a 31-yard touchdown to Bisi Owens. Sam Smith kicked the extra point. Penn 7, Harvard 0.
Even while the Crimson saw Craig knocked out, it welcomed the return of senior captain running back Shane McLaughlin, who had missed several games with injury. Big Mac gained 33 of the 86 yards in Harvard’s ensuing drive, barreling through some cavernous holes made by the offensive line and scoring on a four-yard burst. Now, however, we saw a switch at placekicker: Fingersh in for Corr. Fingersh delivered the point after. Harvard 7, Penn 7.
But late in the second period and early in the third the Quakers took control of the game. Facing a first-and-25, O’Brien flung caution to the winds—as well as a pass deep downfield to Owens. With the Harvard defensive back unable to locate the ball in the glaring sunlight, Owens snagged it in stride and went the rest of the way for a touchdown. Smith kicked. Penn 14, Harvard 7.
On the first play of the second half, Mosley made a scintillating cutback run for 55 yards to the Harvard 15. Five plays later O’Brien tossed a six-yard touchdown pass to Mike Fraraccio. Sam Smith kicked. Penn 21, Harvard 7.
(Let us now pause to show gratitude that in this day and age of ever more rococo names, kids are still named Sam Smith. Girls as well as boys. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Smith!)
So here we were, at so-called gut-check time. DePrima and the offense responded magnificently. On the ensuing drive DePrima used his legs for gains of 27 and 11 yards. He is not nearly the passer Craig is—few are—but this time he hit sophomore running back Xavier Bascon in stride over the middle for a 23-yard score. Fingersh kicked the point. Penn 21, Harvard 14.
The defense forced a Quaker punt. The Crimson reassumed the ball at their own 13 and began marching. On this drive the most significant plays came consecutively: first, senior wideout Scott Woods diving and stretching out his entire five-foot-eight frame to snag a 23-yard pass from DePrima near the left sideline; then, DePrima bolting for 27 yards to the Penn nine. On the next play Bascon cantered into the end zone. Fingersh booted. Harvard 21, Penn 21.
| Photography courtesy of Harvard atheltic communications
There was no quit in the Quakers. O’Brien employed the running of Hosley and some timely passing (plus a pass-interference call) to reach the Crimson four, from where he rushed untouched into the end zone. Smith kicked. Penn 28, Harvard 21.
Back on trotted the Crimson offense. DePrima engineered a 75-yard drive. He hit Woods for 15 yards. A little later, he connected with sophomore tight end Sean Gilmartin for 18. After using McLaughlin as a battering ram to get into touchdown position, DePrima on first and goal took the snap, ran left and sifted his way nine yards into the end zone. Fingersh again kicked. Harvard 28, Penn 28.
As expected, the Quakers came right back. With just under two minutes left, they reached the Harvard 24. On fourth and six, Smith came on to kick a 41-yard field goal—just within his range. But before the ball was snapped, Penn was called for a false start. The ball was moved back five yards. Now the field goal would be from 46 yards. The ball was snapped…the kick was up and…it slid wide right. No good! From the original distance, it might well have snuck through the uprights.
Now the Crimson took over with a chance to win the game. To advance the ball DePrima cannily connected twice with Harvard’s best receiver, junior Cooper Barkate, for a total of 27 yards. (As a defense, you can know Barkate is coming but still not be able to cover him.) Eventually the ball reached the Penn 30; Fingersh’s field-goal range was unknown. Here, on third-and-one, DePrima took the snap and made one of the damnedest runs in Harvard history, a winding jaunt which he began by going left, then stopping and circling back right. The official gain was 16 yards, to the Penn 14, but DePrima must have run a full field’s worth.
It took five plays to set up the denouement. Then, with the ball having reached the Quaker three and one second left, the Crimson signaled timeout. Fingersh was called on to try a field goal, essentially a glorified extra point. Back at Capistrano Valley (Calif.) High School, he had booted a walk-off field goal during a playoff game. But this was Ivy League football! Of course, a botched game-clinching field-goal try led to Harvard’s only loss this season, against Brown, but that was seven games ago.
The teams lined up. The ball was snapped…the kick was up…and soon Fingersh was being mobbed by his teammates. Harvard 31, Penn 28. Hello, Ivy champs. And the name of Dylan Fingersh ’28 was enrolled in the annals of Harvard football.
(Also, in the Dept. of Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold, some of us are old enough to remember 1982, when on this very field Penn won on a last-second field goal set up by a bogus roughing-the-kicker call. This memory will die only when we do.)
When it was over, DePrima had rushed for 122 yards and passed for 169, completing 13 of his 18 tosses. He was not intercepted. McLaughlin gained 83 yards on 16 carries. Barkate caught 11 passes for 129 yards (both game highs). Woods had six receptions for 65 yards. On defense, junior defensive back Ty Bartrum led with eight tackles, while senior linebacker Mitchell Gonser chimed in with seven. (Bartrum also was called for a late hit; he sometime displays a chippiness that can get him in trouble.)
So congratulations to Coach Aurich on capturing an Ivy title in his first season. However, throw out the record books—Eli’s coming! Aurich displayed appropriate and admirable tunnel vision. “I literally grabbed the guys before we went in the locker room, and I told them that we did not come here to celebrate sharing a championship, and the only way we can ensure that’s the case is if we go take care of business next week,” he said.
You are quite the party pooper, Coach! But we understand. After all…what have you done for us lately?
TIDBITS: Harvard now leads the series 53-39-2.….The victory was the fourth straight for the Crimson over the Quakers….Penn last defeated Harvard at Franklin Field in 2016….Harvard’s seven-game winning streak is its longest since the 2015 team opened with eight straight victories….The consecutive titles are the first since the three straight from 2013-15.
Weekly Roundup
Columbia 21, Brown 12
Cornell 39, Dartmouth 22
Yale 42, Princeton 28
Coming up: The 140th Playing of The Game! Harvard returns to the Stadium next Saturday for the annual finale against archrival Yale. Kickoff: Noon. TV: ESPNU. Radio: 92.9 FM WBOS, 1330 AM, 1450 AM. The Elis are 6-3 overall and 3-3 in Ivy play. In a series that began in 1875, Yale leads 70-61-8. The Bulldogs have won the last two, including last year’s 23-18 victory in New Haven.
For coach Andrew Aurich, this will be his first Game day. Here are how his fellow Harvard head coach predecessors fared during their first Games in the Ivy League era, which began in 1956:
COACH YEAR RESULT
Lloyd Jordan 1956 Yale 42, at Harvard 14*
John Yovicsin 1957 at Yale 54, Harvard 0
Joe Restic 1971 Harvard 35, at Yale 16
Tim Murphy 1994 Yale 32, at Harvard 13
*Pre-Ivy, Jordan’s first Game was a 14-6 loss at Harvard in 1950.
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Harvard | 0 | 7 | 14 | 10 | — | 31 | ||
Penn | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | — | 28 |
Attendance: 12, 286
THE SEASON SO FAR: follow Dick Friedman’s dispatches.
Football: Harvard 26-Columbia 6
Football: Harvard 31-Dartmouth 27
Football: Harvard 45-Princeton 13
Football: Harvard 35-Holy Cross 34
Football: Harvard 38-Cornell 20
Football: Harvard 28-New Hampshire 23
Football: Harvard 35-Stetson 0
Pre-season:
