WORCESTER, Mass. – The No. 24 Holy Cross football team fell to Harvard, 38-13, in a Homecoming matchup on Saturday, Oct. 2 at Fitton Field.
Junior wide receiver Ayir Asante had a 59-yard touchdown for the Crusaders (3-2), while sophomore quarterback Matthew Sluka had a seven-yard run for a touchdown and totaled 72 passing yards. Freshman wide receiver Justin Shorter recorded 69 yards on six receptions.
Defensively, senior linebacker Liam Anderson and senior safety Terrell Prince each had 13 tackles for the Crusaders, and junior linebacker Jacob Dobbs recorded 12. Senior Grant Holloman recovered an onside kick and had an interception for the Crusaders.
Quarterback Jake Smith totaled 229 yards on 20-of-31 passing for Harvard (3-0), with three touchdowns on the day.
Holy Cross will have a bye week before commencing Patriot League play. The Crusaders are slated to host Georgetown on Oct. 16, with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. at Fitton Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Harvard jumped out to a 24-0 lead after the first half, with a 17-point second quarter.
Asante put the Crusaders on the board with 9:59 to go in the third after carrying the ball 59 yards for a touchdown. However, Holy Cross missed the two-point conversion, leaving the Crusaders trailing by a score of 24-6.
After three-and-out by the Crusaders, freshman Jake Jarmolowich recovered a muffed punt to give the Crusaders the ball right back on the Harvard 10-yard line. From there, Sluka used two plays, capped by a seven-yard touchdown run, to bring Holy Cross within 24-13 with 8:16 left in the third.
After Harvard recovered a fumble by the Crusaders, Holloman intercepted a pass attempt by Harvard in the end zone to give Holy Cross the ball back immediately with 2:30 to go in the third. However, the Crusaders could not capitalize on the opportunity, and turned the ball over on downs.
The Crimson went on to score on the next drive to extend their lead to 31-13 with 12:26 to go in the contest, and scored again with 7:42 to go to push the advantage to 38-13.
