Sometimes playing it safe…isn’t. This was proven at the Stadium on Saturday during the third quarter of the football game between Harvard and Holy Cross. With his team trailing 16-7 and facing fourth down and inches from their 34, Crusader coach Dan Curran elected to be risk-averse and ordered a punt. The kick traveled 33 yards, and the Crimson took over at their 34.
On the very next play, Harvard quarterback Charlie Smith received the snap, moved to his right and spied wideout Henry Shoemaker running by himself behind the Holy Cross secondary. Taking two steps forward and putting all his might into the heave, Smith hurled a howitzer to the streaking Shoemaker, who caught the ball in stride and ran the remaining 20 yards for a touchdown. When Kieran Corr added the extra point, the score was Harvard 23, Holy Cross 7—and the way the Crimson were playing on both sides of the ball, it was pretty much over.
The final score was Harvard 30, Holy Cross 7. Like last year, the Crimson, who entered the game ranked No. 17 in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), completed the first half of the regular season an unblemished 5-0. The Crusaders were Harvard’s final non-Ivy opponent of the season.
The game was not as ho-hum as the final score might suggest. For almost three quarters, it was close. But with their offensive and defensive lines taking control, Harvard gradually but inexorably pulled away. The Crimson won the total offense battle, 461 yards to 311, and had 24 first downs to the Crusaders’ 13. Sophomore quarterback Smith was solid, completing 19 of his 32 pass attempts for 297 yards—including the touchdown to freshman Shoemaker. Perhaps just as laudable, Smith was not intercepted. He did get sacked twice and fumbled both times, losing one. (No doubt he will hear about this from Stephenson family head coach for Harvard football Andrew Aurich, who has a fetish about ball security.)
Wunderkind freshman back Nathan Bailey had a relatively quiet game—five receptions for 38 yards, and 30 yards on five rushes. But by shutting Bailey down, Holy Cross left opportunities for the Crimson’s three man-mountain tight ends: senior Sean Gilmartin (three catches, 62 yards), sophomore Teigan Pelletier (three catches, 60 yards) and senior Logan Reaska (two catches, 29 yards). Often, they were wide open and Smith smartly found them.
Bailey had his biggest moment on Harvard’s opening drive. On first and 10 from the Holy Cross 28, the freshman flash took a pitch from Smith, who had started left on an option play, and swept right for 25 yards. Two plays later freshman Kise Flannery, the designated running quarterback, followed the push of the offensive line for a one-yard touchdown. Junior Corr kicked the conversion. Harvard 7, Holy Cross 0.
In the second quarter, the Crimson got a scare when Smith appeared to be injured. He missed only two plays of the drive, which ended at the Crusader 19. Corr came in for a 37-yard field-goal try—not an easy task on a blustery day, but Corr was up to it. Harvard 10, Holy Cross 0.
Then came the Crusaders’ moment of glory. On a play starting at the Holy Cross 49, mighty-mite running back JoJo Williams took a perfect shotput-type lob from Jake Croce and started down the right sideline. With a running start, Williams was uncatchable and he jetted all the way the end zone. Owen Saraceno kicked the extra point. Harvard 10, Holy Cross 7. With three seconds remaining in the half, Corr kicked another 37-yard field goal. Harvard 13, Holy Cross 7.
In the third quarter, senior Crimson defensive back Austin Chase-Guillory came across the field to snatch a pass that had been underthrown by Crusader quarterback David Lynch. A subsequent Harvard drive was stunted at the Holy Cross 24, whereupon Corr swung his mighty leg; his 42-yard field-goal try sailed straight and true. Harvard 16, Holy Cross 7.
| Photograph courtesy of Harvard Athletics
That’s the way it stayed until the end of the quarter. Curran’s plan to punt had some reason. If his defense could make a stop and his offense could push through some points, it would be a one-score game. That was the theory, anyway. But then Smith uncorked his bomb to Shoemaker.
In the fourth quarter, concluding a 12-play, 84-yard drive, the Crimson scored the game’s final points on a 10-yard run by Flannery. Corr administered the coup de grace. Harvard 30, Holy Cross 7. One more highlight: senior defensive back Jack Donahoe’s interception and 51-yard return that, alas, yielded no points.
Now comes the annual five-game Ivy gauntlet. First up is a battle of the two remaining league-play unbeatens as Princeton invades the Stadium on Saturday. Harvard is now guaranteed a .500 season, but after this start, no one would be happy with break-even.
Tidbits
THE UNDEFEATED: With Saturday’s win, Harvard is one of three unbeaten teams in the FCS. The others are Texas schools: Stephen S. Austin and Tarleton State.
WIDENING THE LEAD: After Saturday’s win, Harvard leads the series with Holy Cross 49-26-2 and has won seven of the last eight against the Crusaders.
COMING UP: Next Saturday, Harvard concludes its two-game homestead by welcoming Ivy rival Princeton. Kickoff: 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and broadcast on Bloomberg 92.9 FM and WHRB 95.3 FM. In a series that began in 1877, the Tigers lead 60-50-7 but the Crimson have won the last two, including 35-14 last year in New Jersey. In 2026, Princeton is 4-1 overall and (like Harvard) 2-0 in Ivy play.
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Holy Cross | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | ||
Harvard | 7 | 6 | 10 | 7 | — | 30 |
Attendance: 6,581
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Columbia 28, Penn 27
Cornell 48, Lehigh 38
Princeton 16, Brown 10
Dartmouth 27, Merrimack 21
Rhode Island 41, Yale 23
THE SEASON SO FAR: follow Dick Friedman’s dispatches.
Preview: Can Harvard’s Football Team Repeat Its Ivy League Success?
Crimson Football: Harvard 31, UNH 7
Crimson Football: Harvard 14, Brown 10
