And then there are those other plays, like one Balestracci delivered on Princeton running back Ryan Veach in the fourth quarter of the Crimson’s match-up with the Tigers.

Veach dominated Harvard’s defense, rushing for over 200 yards, and Balestracci—rage evident in his gait—seemed ready to boil over.

As Balestracci came across the field with Veach in his sights, there could be no mistaking what would happen next—Princeton’s running back snapped backwards upon receiving the crushing blow, ground into the dirt and wincing in pain at the hit he had just received while a still-unsatisfied Balestracci stood over him and waited for another chance to lay into him.

“The big hits get you excited,” Balestracci says. “[You] start jumping around, talking and stuff like that, but that’s just part of enjoying the game.”

And for Balestracci, so is delivering hits like the one that signaled the beginning of the end for Ryan Veach, who was ineffective for the remainder of that game.

Purgatorio

While Balestracci’s presence on the field has always signaled impending doom for opponents, his evolution from a high school senior splitting time between safety and quarterback into a menacing middle linebacker four years later along with the skills he has honed along the way have made him that much more potent a force to be reckoned with.

“I’ve gone from being the new kid, the young kid on the team as a freshman…When you’re 18, 19 coming out of high school and really playing with 22, 23 year old guys that are seniors, you are the kid,” Balestracci says. “That age difference is pretty big in terms of how physically and mentally mature you are. [I was] a kid who made plays and was fortunate to have some good guys around him right when he came in.”

One of the guys who mentored him was defensive tackle R. D. Kern ’01, who brought him up to speed on the pace of the college game.

“The big difference from high school to college football: the intensity level on every play is so high,” Balestracci says. In high school you can kind of take a few plays off here or there but in college you have to go 100 percent the whole time. You have to have your motor running the whole time at a very high level to even be average out there, let alone be successful. I think [Kern] taught me that right off the bat.”

But good fortune and helpful advice alone can’t account for the sort of success that Balestracci has enjoyed across his four years at Harvard.

“He played like a junior when he was a freshman,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy says. “He just had this natural poise and maturity that is not something you generally see in freshmen. Legitimately, it’s a big transition from high school to college and you’re throwing the football even before you start classes and the combination of those things can be overwhelming. In his case, he just hit the ground running and that’s the way it’s always been.”

Balestracci has thus far garnered three first team All-Ivy seasons—including becoming the first freshman in league history tabbed for the award—and three All-New England nods, and is well on his way to earning another of each. This is in addition to being selected as the Ancient Eight’s Rookie of the Year in 2000 and a finalist for the Buck Buchanan award last year, presented to the top defender in the nation.

If only everyone for Harvard could be as physically and mentally immature as its captain was as a freshman.

“I wasn’t always doing the right thing,” Balestracci says. “But it seemed like I always had a nose for the football and made plays.”