Junior cornerback Gary Sonkur provided further insurance for Harvard late in the fourth quarter when he stepped in front of Cowan’s pass to receiver Ron Beningo and returned the interception 37 yards for a touchdown.

Up until the big pass to Edwards and Sonkur’s clinching interception, Yale had played just well enough to still be dangerous. The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and drove down the length of the field only to have kicker John Troost push a 34-yard field-goal attempt wide left.

After Harvard drove down the field and Jim Morocco converted a 30-yard field goal, Yale responded with another impressive drive. This time the march downfield stalled on the Crimson 12, and Troost nailed a 29-yard field goal through the uprights.

In the second quarter, freshman running back Clifton Dawson began asserting himself. Dawson—who would run for 174 yards on the day—ran the ball four times in the opening drive of the second frame, moving the ball steadily.

But on a fourth-and-three from its own 49-yard line, the Crimson turned to trickery to keep the drive going. Out of a punt formation, the ball was snapped directly to Balestracci, who rumbled forward for eight yards and a first down.

After a reverse to Edwards and two more runs by Dawson, Fitzpatrick was in position to connect on his first of four touchdown tosses for the day. From the Yale 26, freshman receiver Corey Mazza beat his man down the left sideline and Fitzpatrick hit him in stride to give Harvard the lead for good.

“He was playing on one-and-a-half legs,” Murphy said of his beat-up signal caller. “It was just a tremendous and gutsy performance by him.”

Yale would respond with another field goal, cutting the lead to 10-6. But the combination of Fitzpatrick and Dawson proved too powerful for the Bulldogs.

Fitzpatrick connected on two more touchdowns on the afternoon. Late in the second quarter, he hooked up with junior Rodney Byrnes on a 10-yard bullet, threading the ball between two Yale defenders and putting Harvard up 17-6 at the half.

In the opening drive of the second half, Dawson once again carried the offense into Bulldog territory.

Then, from the 11-yard line, Fitzpatrick found backup sophomore tight end Kelly Widman all alone in the flat. Widman then turned upfield and dove just inside the right pylon for a touchdown.

While the Bulldogs scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 24-13, Butler’s big play and Edwards’ “wrong” route sealed the contest.

For the first time in a while, the sun seemed to shine on the Crimson.

“After all the adversity we’ve had the last month or so, it’s tremendous to see the way that our kids responded today, especially our senior class,” Murphy said. “It was a very intense, emotional and physical performance and, needless to say, we’re proud of them.”