Football: Harvard 24, Columbia 16

Against the improved Lions, a narrow escape from New York

Crimson ball! Harvard sophomore Jack Stansell pounced on a fumbled punt at the Columbia 13. The turnover set up a 40-yard field goal by sophomore Kenny Smart.
Crimson ball! Harvard sophomore Jack Stansell pounced on a fumbled punt at the Columbia 13. The turnover set up a 40-yard field goal by sophomore Kenny Smart.
Photograph by George Lok/The Harvard Crimson
Now you see him…now you don't! On his 86-yard punt return, freshman Justice Shelton-Mosley (17) started down the left sideline, vanished into a sea of players…and reappeared in the end zone.
Now you see him…now you don't! On his 86-yard punt return, freshman Justice Shelton-Mosley (17) started down the left sideline, vanished into a sea of players…and reappeared in the end zone.
Photograph by George Lok/The Harvard Crimson
Freshman defensive lineman Richie Ryan (far right, 50) got his hand up to block a first-quarter field-goal try by Columbia's Cameron Nizialek.
Freshman defensive lineman Richie Ryan (far right, 50) got his hand up to block a first-quarter field-goal try by Columbia's Cameron Nizialek. 
Photograph by George Lok/The Harvard Crimson
Senior special: Quarterback Scott Hosch threw to tight end Ben Braunecker (48), who caught the ball in stride and took it 53 yards for Harvard's first score.
Senior special: Quarterback Scott Hosch threw to tight end Ben Braunecker (48), who caught the ball in stride and took it 53 yards for Harvard's first score.
Photograph by George Lok/The Harvard Crimson

There is a 1981 adventure film called Escape from New York, in which the hero is a character named Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell. Last Saturday at Robert Kraft Field, the Harvard football team produced Escape from New York, Part Deux, in which the part of Snake was played by a young man from Sacramento, California, named Justice Shelton-Mosley. Against Columbia, the Crimson freshman wideout scored two touchdowns, the second on a Houdini-like 86-yard punt return that came on the first play of the fourth quarter. It gave Harvard a 21-point lead and enabled the Crimson to withstand two late Lions touchdowns and escape from New York with a 24-16 victory that was not nailed down until Columbia was called for a penalty for having 12 men on the field; that gave Harvard a first down and allowed the Crimson to run out the clock.

Harvard’s record is now 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Ivy League, one game ahead of Dartmouth and Penn (next week’s foe). Columbia dropped to 2-6 and 1-4. The victory was also the twenty-second in a row for the Crimson, which kept pace with Ohio State for the longest winning streak in NCAA Division I.

There were many differences between this Harvard-Columbia game and others of recent vintage. For one, the Lions scored; the Crimson had shut them out in the previous three meetings. For another, this year Columbia has a new coach, Al Bagnoli, who is actually an old coach, having spent the previous 23 years at Penn, where he was the only Ivy coach to have a winning record against Harvard’s Tim Murphy. Bagnoli has the Lions pointed in the right direction. “They’re much improved and that’s what we got today,” said Murphy afterward. “It was a very good college football game. Any time you win on the road, you’ll take it.”

Ever the competitor, Bagnoli refused to accept a moral victory. “We’re disappointed with the outcome,” he said. “We gave great effort, but we made a lot of mistakes. We’re still building, trying to get on a consistent level.”

Bagnoli’s game plan was shrewd and it mostly worked. On offense, he deployed two quarterbacks, Skyler Mornhinweg and Anders Hill, in a short-pass, ball-control attack that spared his defense by keeping the Harvard offense off the field. When the Crimson did have the ball, Bagnoli unleashed his team’s very stout defensive line. “We wanted to contain the [Harvard] run game,” he said—most notably, Crimson star Paul Stanton Jr. ’16. “Maybe we slowed ’em down a little bit.” Yes, they did: Stanton was held to 51 yards, 47 below his per-game average. As Crimson quarterback Scott Hosch ’16 noted, “They were bringing the house—seven or eight guys.” In essence, Bagnoli was daring Hosch to win the game with his arm, and Hosch took up the challenge, completing 22 of 39 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns. (Hosch’s record as a starter is now 14-0.)

On a balmy November afternoon by the Spuyten Duyvil, the first quarter was scoreless but did include an exchange of blocked kicks (a Harvard punt, and a Lions field-goal attempt deflected by Harvard defensive lineman Richie Ryan ’19). Early in the second quarter, the Crimson wasted an advance that included a spectacular 40-yard completion on a diving catch by Shelton-Mosley; the drive proved unavailing when Harvard kicker Kenny Smart ’18 was wide left on a 29-yard field-goal try. But minutes later the Crimson got on the board. From his 47, Hosch found classmate Ben Braunecker on the right side. Braunecker’s defender slipped, and the Crimson tight end cantered all the way into the end zone. Smart kicked the extra point. Harvard 7, Columbia 0.

After the kickoff, the Crimson defense forced Columbia into a three-and-out. Harvard got the ball back at its 28. On the first play, Hosch hit Seitu Smith II ’15 (’16) for a 37-yard gain. After a Stanton nine-yard gain and an incompletion, Hosch faced third and one from the Lions 26. Reverting to his Bart Starr gambler mode, Hosch opted not for the short run but for the home run. He found Shelton-Mosley on a quick out on the left side. The freshman gathered in the ball and outsprinted defenders to the left pylon for a score. Smart kicked. Harvard 14, Columbia 0.

The ensuing kickoff produced somber and frightening moments, and a reminder that there are more important things than wins or losses, when Harvard defensive back Tanner Lee ’18 crumpled to the turf after being blocked. Lee lay on the field for several minutes; an ambulance was called and took him off. By game’s end, Lee had recovered enough to make the bus trip home with his teammates. Upon arrival in Cambridge, Coach Murphy met with him and Lee reported no headaches or lingering effects. On Sunday the training staff was to re-evaluate him.

The Lions showed their newfound fight at the end of the half. Columbia’s Travis Reim picked off a Hosch pass and returned it 17 yards to the Crimson 43. Mornhinweg took the Lions down to the Crimson two, and with 11 seconds left in the half Cameron Nizialek booted a 20-yard field goal. After 219 minutes and 20 seconds of play (encompassing four seasons), Columbia’s shutout string against Harvard was broken. Harvard 14, Columbia 3.

In the third quarter, Harvard got those points back. A punt by Zach Schmid ’18 bounced off Columbia’s Brock Kenyon and was recovered by Harvard’s Jack Stansell ’18 at the Lions 13. From there, thanks to a bad snap and penalties, Harvard went backward. So on fourth down, the scrimmage line was the Columbia 23 when Smart booted a career-long 40-yard field goal. Distance of the scoring drive? Minus 10 yards. Harvard 17, Columbia 3.

Mornhinweg brought the Lions back downfield. On third and 17 from the Harvard 39, he was sacked for a 13-yard loss on a superb blitz by Crimson linebacker Eric Medes ’16 (game-high nine tackles). Cue Snake Plissken…er, Shelton-Mosley. Dropping back to the Harvard 14, he took Nizialek’s punt and headed to the left sideline. He ran into what appeared to be a logjam of players from both teams, but somehow found a crack and, escaping out the other side, just kept running…past the logjam, and all the way into the end zone.

For the day, Shelton-Mosley had a game-high 270 all-purpose yards (including 131 on eight pass receptions). On Sunday, he was honored as the College Sports Madness Ivy Offensive Player of the Week. Bagnoli thinks the freshman is literally out of his league, calling Shelton-Mosley “an explosive, dynamic kid who’s a legitimate PAC-12 player.”

In years past, this touchdown would have sealed the deal, but no more. Columbia had much the best of the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns while Harvard twice went three-and-out. The first Lions score, a 51-yard pass from Hill to wide-open running back Cameron Dunn, came on a blown Crimson assignment. The second, on a tipped fourth-down Mornhinweg pass caught by John Hunton, came with 2:04 left. On the next Crimson series, the Lions had forced a fourth-and-four when their infraction for too many men on the field gave the Crimson enough yards for a first down.

Game over. New York escaped. C’mon, Snake, let’s get the hell out of here. From now on, the Big Apple looms as a much more frightening place.

 

Weekend roundup
Dartmouth 21, Cornell 3
Yale 41, Brown 14
Penn 26, Princeton 23 (OT)

 

Coming up: Next Saturday Penn comes to the Stadium for the final home game of the 2015 season. Kickoff: Noon. It will be telecast on the American Sports Network and streamed on the Ivy League Digital Network, and broadcast on WXKS 1200 AM and 94.5 FM-HD2 and WHRB FM 95.3. Thanks to the Quakers’ overtime victory against Princeton, first place is at stake. A victory for Harvard will clinch a tie for the Ivy title.

It is also Senior Day, and what a ride it has been for the members of the Class of ’16. During their four years in Cambridge their record is 35-3…and counting.

 

The score by quarters

Columbia03013  16
Harvard01437  24

 Attendance: 5,494

Read more articles by: Dick Friedman

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