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Harvard football competes at Holy Cross at Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 30, 2023.
Dylan Goodman
38
Winner Harvard HVD 3-0 , 1-0
28
Holy Cross HC 3-2 , 1-0
Winner
Harvard HVD
3-0 , 1-0
38
Final
28
Holy Cross HC
3-2 , 1-0
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
HVD Harvard 14 14 7 3 38
HC Holy Cross 7 14 0 7 28

Game Recap: Football |

No. 24 Football Takes Down No. 5 Holy Cross, 38-28, at Polar Park

WORCESTER, Mass. – No. 24/RV Harvard Football defeated No. 5/6 Holy Cross, 38-28, at The EBW Football Classic at Polar Park – the home of the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate Worcester WooSox – Saturday night. With its first win over a nationally ranked foe since Oct. 21, 2021, the Crimson improved to 3-0 on the season, while the Crusaders dropped to 3-2.

How It Happened

  • First-year Xaviah Bascon quickly put Harvard in great field position when he took the opening kickoff 62 yards to the Holy Cross 33-yard line. Seven plays later, wide receiver Cooper Barkate went in motion, took a handoff from quarterback Charles DePrima and scampered eight yards into the endzone for the 7-0 lead.
  • After losing a fumble on its first possession, Holy Cross evened the score on the first play of its second possession with a 74-yard TD reception from Matthew Sluka to Jalen Coker with 6:28 left in the first quarter.
  • The shootout continued with DePrima finding Tyler Neville for 29 yards and a 19-yard run from Shane McLaughlin, who followed that with a one-yard gain. Then from the 26, DePrima found Dean Boyd streaking across the endzone, with the wide receiver recording his first career catch and TD to put Harvard up, 14-7.
  • After a Matt Hudson interception gave Harvard possession at the Holy Cross 45, McLaughlin put the Crimson up two touchdowns when he rushed for three yards through the middle. McLaughlin was ultimately responsible for 30 of the Crimson's 45 yards on the scoring drive.
  • Holy Cross answered with a TD of its own, going 71 yards on seven plays, culminating in a 30-yard scoring grab by Coker from Sluka.
  • The Harvard defense came up with a big play with less than two minutes to go in the first half when Damien Henderson tipped a Sluka pass, which ended in AJ Lopez's hands. The sophomore took the interception to the house, giving the visitors a 28-14 lead.
  • Holy Cross stayed within striking distance right before the half when Sluka found Byron Shipman for a four-yard TD strike, ending a six-play, 71-drive scoring drive. The first-half fireworks finished with Harvard holding a 28-21 edge at intermission.
  • After a combined 49 points in the first half, the third quarter went scoreless for the first 11:55. The streak, however, was broken when Barkate hauled in a 4th-and-8, 31-yard pass from DePrima, putting the Crimson ahead, 35-21.
  • Holy Cross found itself in Harvard territory with under a minute to play in the third and converted on a 4th-and-5 on a 13-yard reception, taking the Crusaders to the Crimson 30. Then on first down, Sluka tried to find his receiver on the right sideline, but Ty Bartrum picked the pass off and got a foot down to stop the Holy Cross threat.
  • The Bartrum interception gave the Crimson the ball to end the third quarter. The offense did not give it back to Holy Cross until after Cali Canaval successfully booted his field goal attempt from 40 yards out. By then, there was 7:12 left in the regulation and Harvard enjoyed a 38-21 lead.
  • Holy Cross found the endzone one last time on a three-yard pass from Sluka to Shipman, but with 3:12 left in the fourth, the hosts ran out of time.

Harvard Highlights

  • Harvard defeated its first nationally ranked foe since Oct. 21, 2021, when it defeated No. 24 Holy Cross at Fitton Field.
  • Cooper Barkate enjoyed his first multiple-touchdown performance of his career. He finished with five catches for 73 yards and a TD, and added 14 rushing yards plus a touchdown.
  • Tyler Huenemann recovered his first fumble of the season in the first half and the team's third of 2023.  
  • Matt Hudson picked off his first career interception with 14:51 left in the second quarter. The interception was Harvard's third of the season. He, ultimately, finished with a team-high eight tackles.
  • AJ Lopez's 20-yard interception return for a touchdown was his first career INT and TD, and the Crimson's second interception return TD of the campaign. Lopez has posted at least five tackles in all three games.
  • Ty Bartrum posted his second interception of the season and Harvard's third of the day. Holy Cross QB Matthew Sluka entered the evening with one interception on the season and only had four INTs in 2022. He also finished with six tackles, tying him for the second-most on the team (Thor Griffith, Kaleb Moody, Gavin Shipman).
  • Bartrum has two INTs through three games. To put his accomplishment into perspective, Harvard only had one player last season with at least two picks (Alex Washington – 2).
  • Cali Canaval connected on his second field goal of at least 40 yards and is now 2-for-3 from 40-49 yards this season.
  • Charles DePrima had a team-high 89 rushing yards, seven more than Shane McLaughlin's final total. The QB has led the team in rushing twice this season and added 151 passing yards and two TDs.
  • The Crimson improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2021, and for the second time since 2017. Harvard is the only Ivy League school that is currently undefeated.
  • Harvard moved to 46-26-2 all-time vs. Holy Cross and prevents a two-game losing streak to the Crusaders. The Crimson has not lost two in a row to Holy Cross since 1991-92.
  • Harvard has now won the last two times it has played at a baseball stadium. The Crimson defeated Yale at Fenway Park in 2018.
  • Harvard won for the 84th time since the start of 2011, extending its lead among Division I schools in the state of Massachusetts.
  • Tim Murphy won his 195th game at Harvard, extending its conference-best win total.
  • The Crimson improved to 51-16 in the month of September under Tim Murphy and 42-9 in the calendar's ninth month since 2001.
  • Harvard improved to 141-61 in games played in New England since 1994 (116-33 since 2001; 62-21 since 2012).

They Said It

"Both teams played really hard. We got a few breaks. We made our own breaks. For our defense to step up and play that way -- they scored 30 against Boston College and close to 50 against the other two. It all starts with defense in any good program. We played really good team defense tonight. That was the biggest part of the game." -- Tim Murphy, The Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football 
 
"We take it literally one day at a time. We don't ever assume anything. If you look at our schedule, everybody is good. Everybody we have played has been a good football team." -- Tim Murphy, The Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football
 
"Our defensive staff, they put us in such good positions to make plays, and I think it showed up today. We believed in our base stuff, believed in our guys, and just going out there playing ball and being physical." -- Matt Hudson, Senior Linebacker
 
"We played pretty solid across the board. We definitely have a lot of things to clean up, but watching your team play from the sidelines the first couple weeks is tough. You get a little more nervous in the games you are not playing than the ones you are playing in. I'm just happy to come back in and be a part of our defense that is on the field." -- Nate Leskovec, Senior Defensive End

Up Next

The Crimson resumes Ivy League play on Friday when Cornell visits Harvard Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, with the game airing live on ESPNU.
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