RUNNING BACK ROTATION

Fitzpatrick and the Harvard offense put up some early points despite playing largely without the team’s leading rusher from a year ago, freshman Clifton Dawson.

Dawson—who gained 1,187 yards last year on the ground—played the first down of the game but was then held out of action for the rest of the game.

“This was a decision of the coaching staff,” said Dawson of his limited playing time. “I think the coaches’ decision was made to prevent my injury.”

With Dawson on the bench and sophomore Ryan Tyler seeing most of his time at wide receiver, junior Nick Carrington took most of the snaps at running back with the first team. Carrington finished the game with 43 yards on 14 carries.

Freshmen Raffael DeLuca and James Velissaris also saw time in the backfield, with DeLuca leading the team in rushing with 83 yards.

DEFENSIVE DIARIES

While at times the Crimson’s high powered offense made the defense look a step slow, there were some good signs for a defensive unit that will be charged with replacing some key players.

Replacing Dante Balestracci at linebacker will be one of the main tasks for Harvard next fall. But for one game at least, the Crimson appeared to have at least two viable options.

Freshman Dylan McCrory played with the first team throughout the first half and looked to be in sync with his linebacker mate, Everett. Meanwhile, sophomore Gary Garcia looked equally impressive, frequently breaking through the line on blitz packages to disrupt the quarterback.

“This spring went well for all the linebackers,” McCrory said. “As for replacing Dante, you can’t replace a guy like him, as a player or a leader.”

Up on the line, Harvard is looking for someone who can play opposite sophomore Erik Grimm at defensive end. Sophomore Doug Bennett appeared to fit that mold perfectly on Friday, as he saw time with both the first and second teams, recording six tackles and three sacks, including a safety.

In addition to the safety, the defense put points on the board when sophomore defensive back Keith Howell returned a fumble for a touchdown.

KICKING COMPETITION

Harvard will head into the fall with three kickers vying for the starting job next season, hoping to find someone who can finally put an end to the Crimson’s recent kicking woes. With Adam Kingston graduating, it appeared that sophomore Jim Morocco—who was 2-of-4 on field goal attempts last season—would have the inside track on the job. But if anyone is in the lead right now, it would be freshman Derek Case, who connected on field goals of 22 and 28 yards yesterday and nailed an extra point with little difficulty.

“I think it is absolutely imperative that this team finds someone they can rely on every time they line up to kick,” Case said. “And I think we as a group have made huge strides this spring in providing the team with that need.”

Morocco also made an extra point on Friday, although his was slightly less convincing as it glanced off the crossbar before going through the uprights. Freshman Doug Britton, who did not see action on Friday, will also be part of the competition.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.