As an overcast sky grew darker Saturday afternoon, Joe Restic sat quietly with reporters in the comfort of Dillon Field House. In the background, you could hear the crazed screams of a jubilant Harvard football team, celebrating its first win in six weeks with riotous commotion in the locker room.

Restic, however, was subdued. He sighed, scratched his forehead and said, "Well, gentlemen, it was a long time coming."

Except for the marvels of split end Richie Horner, it had been a lackluster afternoon, with two cellar-dwellers fighting an emotional, scrappy battle for a rare victory. But Harvard's 41-26 win over Pennsylvania's Quakers was a win all the same, only the second this year for the Crimson and eighth straight loss this season for the winless Philadelphians.

The Crimson took the field Saturday before a soggy and disappointing crowd of 7500 for the final home game of '79. At first, it looked like the gridders would play that familiar losing tune: "We Left Our Execution in Dillon Field House."

On the second play from scrimmage, Crimson quarterback Burke St. John mishandled the snap and coughed up the ball to Penn's Tom Kearny. Seven plays and 28 yards later, Ron Gray took a Doug Marzione handoff from one yard out to give Penn the lead. John Dwyer's kick with 3:45 gone in the quarter put Penn up, 7-0.

As the rain started to fall, a gloom settled over Harvard Stadium; and half the quarter ticked away without a sing of life from the Crimson.

Then a 33-yd. St. John roll right to the Penn 19 revived the team. Halfback Jon Hollingsworth weaved and bobbed to the 11 before St. John, looking to pass off the roll out, scrambled twice more, finally into the end zone. Dave Cody's kick tied the score at 7-7 with 10:39 gone in the quarter.

Having convinced the skeptical fans that it could score, Harvard then pre-empted its regularly scheduled game for a special presentation of The Richie Horner Show. The 5-ft., 8-in. senior whirlwind began a 126-yd., three touchdown day that moved into third place on the all-time Harvard receiving list.

"I thought Horner was super again,": Restic said after the game. "He's open every time you see him, I don't care where you see him."

Just before the end of the first quarter, Horner made his first appearance. On a roll right, St. John stepped up and lofted a sideline fluffball that Horner ran under at the Penn 49. The San Diego native then tiptoed to the 31 before he was collared by John Farmer for a 33-yd. gain.

On the first play of the second quarter, St. John took a shotgun snap at the Penn 12-yd. line and rifled the ball to a slicing Horner, who stepped into the end zone and pushed Harvard into the lead, 14-7, after Dody's PAT.

The Crimson then exploded en route to a 407-yd. day, 255 of those yards coming on the ground (in 63 carries). While Penn racked up an equally impressive 350 total yards. Harvard compiled the numbers that counted most, tallying twice more in the second period for a 28-7 halftime advantage.

St. John. who was six of eight for 152 yards in the air the also had 79 yards on nine runs), directed an eight-play, 59-yd. scoring drive capped by a two-yd. Hollingsworth touchdown swan-dive for the third Harvard score with 5:21 gone in the second quarter.

After Crimson safety Mike Jacobs snared a Pennsylvania volleyball aerial, a pass that bounced off John Montesanti's shoulder, Horner curled in front of two Penn defenders at the goal line and enveloped a second-down St. John sizzler. The 12-yd. scoring pass and Cody's kich at 13:30 was followed by a Jim DeBello interception that closed the half.

The third quarter opened with Harvard trying to blow the game apart, scoring on its first possession after the kickoff. The 75-yd., eight-play drive hinged on a 44-yd. St. John-to-Horner sideline streaker that ended when Horner was bumped out of bounds at the Penn three. Two plays later, Hollingsworth took the pitchout in for the score from four yards out; but Cody's wide PAT try left the score at 34-7.

Restic then brought in his second line, giving many of the seniors a chance to play in this final home game. George Hodakowski directed an offense that looked headed for a respectable drive until Chuck Sandor, after bucking for nine yards on a third and four, took a hard hit and fumbled away the ball.

Three and a half minutes later, scrappy Penn put up seven points and looked like it might turn the tame around. A Marzione-to-Montesanti three-yd. pass opened the fourth quarter with a third Quaker TD and closed the gap to 34-20. Penn failing on a two-point try. Two and a half minutes later, though, a wild Marzione lateral rolled through the arms of ten players before DeBello pounced on it and gave Harvard possession at the Penn 24.

Out came St. John, Horner, and the rest of the front line for an encore the took just two minutes to complete. On third and nine front the Penn 12, St. John worked the shotgun and threw one more strike to the ever-elusive Horner, who was alone at the goal line. The Dave Cody kick broke open the game, giving the Crimson a 41-20 advantage.

Penn's final score, with just two seconds left in the game, and the ensuing missed try for two points, mattered little as Harvard's second-and third-line players finished out the win in comfortable style. THE NOTEBOOK: After the game, Restic and Crimson captain Mike Brown presented the game ball to Penn coach Harry Gamble, in honor of his team's spirited fight down to the wire despite its dismal record and huge deficit.

Horner's Record

As Harvard moves into the final week of the season, split end Richie Horner closes in on a number of school records. The leading receiver in the Ivies, Horner's stats are as follows:

Season: 39 catches, 702 yards seven Tds.

Career: 63 Catches, 1163 yards, nine TDs. Horner needs:

One TD to tie Pat Mclnally's ('75) season record for TDs.

Seventy-three yards to break Carter Lord's ('68) season record for yardage.

Six Catches to finish as the number two all-time Harvard receiver (Mclnally has 108 career cat-catches).