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As Harvard’s star quarterback Jaden Craig laid on the ground, surrounded by medical staff following a massive helicopter hit against UPenn, fear quickly spread across the Crimson’s sideline. Craig’s roommate and favorite target Cooper Barkate knelt silently as Craig was stretchered off the field.

When play resumed, all eyes immediately darted toward Charles DePrima, who lost the starting quarterback job to Craig last year before evolving into a star utility player for the Crimson.

DePrima rose to the occasion against the Quakers, leading the Crimson to a come from behind victory. But on Saturday, the level of attention will be magnified, as the Crimson takes on Yale’s quarterback Grant Jordan and the rest of the Bulldogs.

In the 140th playing of The Game, the Crimson might have to hope for a repeat performance from DePrima. With Craig’s status for Saturday up in the air, the senior could become the hero of Harvard’s season — or continue to surprise defenses with his versatility if Craig returns.

Both Crimson quarterbacks, hailing from the Garden State, could not have had more contrasting journeys to the highest stage in Ivy League football than their Yale counterpart, Jordan, who grew up in New Orleans and was molded by the pseudo-religion that is Southern football.

DePrima and Craig both put themselves on the high school recruiting map with strong junior seasons, while Jordan had to bide his time at Jesuit High School in order to earn his spot in the pocket his senior year.

Now, all three of them find themselves in the same position: hoping to do everything they can to secure their team the victory. For Craig and DePrima, this game is all that stands between them and Harvard’s first outright Ivy League title since 2014. Meanwhile, Jordan can lead the Bulldogs to play spoiler on Harvard’s home turf.

“I only circled one game on the calendar,” Craig said. “And it was this one.”

Ivy League Ascension

The two Harvard signal-callers followed massively different paths to the Ivy League than Jordan. A native of Montclair, N.J., Craig was named to the all-state team during his junior and senior years while at Seton Hall Prep.

After receiving an offer from Columbia, other Ivy League schools soon followed. However, Harvard stood out.

“All the other Ivies started reaching out and got in contact with Coach Lamb, who’s the quarterback coach, and Coach Fein, who was my area recruiter, and Coach Murph, here and there,” Craig said. “And I just fell in love right away.”

Meanwhile, DePrima established himself as a dual-threat quarterback while playing for Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, N.J. At Ramapo, he was part of the first high school team to go 13-0 in state history, starting for the varsity team as a junior in 2019 and a senior in 2020.

DePrima’s recruiting journey followed a similar arc to Craig’s, with the added complication of trying to find a landing spot during the pandemic. He waited patiently for an offer from Coach Murphy after his Harvard visit, however, and the opportunity eventually came through.

“The minute they offered me, I was ready to commit,” DePrima said. “It was kind of an easy decision from there.”

Jordan took a more circuitous route to New Haven, with his infatuation with football starting when he was a kid growing up in New Orleans. Since his father and great-uncle both played at the collegiate level, football was always an integral part of Jordan’s life.

At Jesuit, Jordan’s development into a college-level quarterback was gradual, as he didn’t have the chance to start until he was a senior. So, Jordan only had JV film to back up his college football dream — a dream that seemed increasingly distant.

But, in an ironic twist of fate, a connection to the Crimson revived his college football aspirations. Jordan’s father remembered the path of Paul Stanton Jr. — a fellow Jesuit alum who was recruited to Harvard in 2012 and went on to rush for the second-most touchdowns in Harvard history — and suggested Grant attend an Ivy League camp.

The summer after his junior year, he made frequent trips from Louisiana to the Northeast to attend all eight Ivy League schools’ camps. After those trips, Yale was at the top of his list.

“When I came here, I felt how special the program was,” Jordan said. The rest is history.

Growing Pains

All three quarterbacks, even seniors DePrima and Jordan — who are likely playing in their final collegiate game on Saturday — have fewer than 15 starts under their belts. Each has developed significantly even over that small sample.

Craig knew coming out of high school that he relied too much on his scrambling ability. This was reflected in his up-and-down play last season across three starts, when he recorded seven touchdowns on the ground, but just four via the air.

This season, he’s grown immensely as a pocket passer, posting a higher completion percentage (63.2 percent), yards per attempt (9.1) and passer rating (166.5). Where he’s gone this season, Harvard has gone: the only Crimson loss, against Brown, is also the sole time that he threw for under 200 yards.

“The game just gets slower every game. I think I see more of the field. I just see things better,” said Craig, about his development this season.

He also credits his growth to his burgeoning connection with junior Cooper Barkate, his roommate, best friend, and, in Craig’s view, “the best receiver in the FCS.”

Despite being pulled from the starting quarterback role last season, DePrima has been integral to the offense’s success. The senior has still had the opportunity to contribute to the offense in a myriad of ways this season, a chance that he’s embraced.

“It wasn’t really much of a transition. To be an efficient quarterback, you have to really know what everybody’s doing,” DePrima said. “I was always just going to be ready for whatever position I had to play.”

After his impressive performance against UPenn last week, DePrima could start the game, come in as relief for Craig midway through the game, or continue to play all over the field, stealing the defense’s attention away from Craig and Barkate.

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In contrast, Jordan will be the undisputed starter for Yale going into Saturday, after he emerged from a crowded quarterback room early on in the season for Coach Tony Reno’s squad. Jordan started his first game for Yale three weeks into the season and hasn’t looked back since.

“Something that we focus on in our program is being one play warriors,” Jordan said. “One play, one drive, one game at a time.”

Jordan has embodied that mentality, bouncing back from a middling first start against Central Connecticut State to post 19 touchdowns in the six games since. In a win over Brown on Nov. 9, Jordan tied the Ivy League record for most touchdowns scored in a game with seven, a culmination of his rapid ascent.

Like Craig, Jordan has benefitted from a close relationship with one of his weapons, senior wide receiver David Pantelis. Their rapport has fueled a resurgence from Pantelis, who is third in the Ancient Eight in catches and receiving yards after playing in just five games due to injuries in 2023.

Jordan and Pantelis’s bond, who are lockermates, runs deep.

“We go to York Side, which is a restaurant just around the corner, probably three or four times a week,” Jordan said.

The Game In Sight

For Craig, The Game represents a chance for redemption after last year’s nail-biter loss.

“We lost because of me,” Craig said. “That’s a brutal feeling as a competitor and as a quarterback.”

“There’s a couple things, a couple of plays that I really just wish I had back, and if I just did a couple things differently, we would have won the game,” he added. “This year I’m definitely looking for vengeance.”

For DePrima and Jordan, set to etch their names into Harvard-Yale history for the first time, the anticipation is high.

“It’s no secret that this one’s a special one every single year,” DePrima said. “This place is going to be a great atmosphere.”

Jordan knows something about raucous crowds from growing up and attending games with over 100,000 other fans at LSU. He’s undeterred.

“Those games were always packed out. So having that last game where the student body shows up is awesome. We love being able to represent Yale on the field,” the senior said.

Craig summed up the experience each quarterback will have, taking snaps in a stadium packed to the brim, 30,000-strong: “The best game of the year.”

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Jack K. Silvers can be reached at jack.silvers@thecrimson.com.