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After Season of Struggle, Football Highlights its Best

Penn placed second, with five first-team nods. Senior wide receiver Justin Watson recieved his third-straight unanimous selection to the first team.

In total, nine players earned a unanimous pick. Watson, Dudek, Princeton quarterback Chad Kanoff, and favorite target Jesper Horsted made the offense. Meanwhile, defensive end Richard Jarvis (Brown), linebacker Matthew Oplinger (Yale), linebacker Jack Traynor (Dartmouth), and safety Nick Gesualdi (Cornell) highlighted the other side of the ball.

The Ivy League still must name two major awards—the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. Last year, Princeton quarterback John Lovett and Big Green linebacker Folarin Orimolade won the honors.

Almost certainly, no Harvard player will win either award in 2017. The Crimson didn’t have a historic performer this season, although Booker and Shelton-Mosley provided highlights. The seven All-Ivy awards marked the lowest Harvard total since 1998, when the Crimson finished below .500 for the last time.

Ancient Eight coaches especially shunned the Harvard offensive line, which had sported at least one All-Ivy player in each of the last 22 seasons. No offensive lineman achieved that honor this season.

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2017 wasn’t a year of major decorations. Rather, players will remember the season as one of tribulations. Effort despite adversity—this is the legacy that Lee, Hutton, and the rest of the seniors have left.

“We couldn’t have asked for better leaders,” said senior safety and incoming captain Zach Miller. “They went after it every day.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.

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