No. 17 Harvard Shuts Down Holy Cross 30-7 to Remain Undefeated

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Playing through 25-mile-per-hour gusts and wind chill temperatures south of 40 degrees, No. 17 Harvard shut down a red-hot Holy Cross offense in a 30-7 home victory.

The Crimson (5-0, 2-0 Ivy League) had its most successful game on the ground since its opener, beating down the Crusaders (2-5, 2-2 Patriot League) for 164 total yards and getting two touchdowns from freshman wildcat quarterback Kise Flannery. Sophomore quarterback Charlie Smith once again proved his abilities through the air, going 19-for-32 with 297 yards and one touchdown against a weak Holy Cross pass defense.

Smith’s longest pass of the afternoon — a 67-yard bomb down the right sideline for a touchdown — was caught by freshman wide receiver Henry Shoemaker, who more than doubled his career total with 83 yards, just one week after scoring his first touchdown against Cornell.

After allowing The Crusaders to gain 199 yards in the first half, Harvard’s defense clamped down on the visitors, holding them scoreless in the final half hour. In the second half, Holy Cross went two-for-seven on third downs, gained just 112 yards, and threw two interceptions.

The beneficiaries of those picks were senior defensive backs Austin Jake-Guillory and Jack Donahoe, with the latter nearly recording the Crimson’s first pick-six of the season.

Harvard will be at home again next weekend in its return to Ivy League action against the only team stopping the three-time defending champs from holding sole possession of first place in the conference: RV Princeton (4-1, 2-0). The Crimson comfortably beat the Tigers 35-14 last season on the road; however, Princeton appears much improved from its 3-7 campaign a season ago.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

—Staff writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Maxwell P. Friedman can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Samuel S. Rudavsky can be reached at [email protected].