CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – The men’s soccer season was canceled after a demeaning “scouting report” on the women’s team. Cross-country is under investigation for a similar strain of locker room talk.
But even as scandal surrounds the Harvard athletic department, the Crimson football team remains focused on a singular goal – the same goal, in fact, the program has had for almost a century and a half: Beat Yale.
With a victory over their archrivals in the 133rd edition of The Game on Saturday, the Crimson (7-2, 5-1) would clinch a share of a fourth straight Ivy League championship for the first time in the school’s history. (Harvard would win the title outright if Penn and Princeton both lose.) It would also be an unprecedented 10th victory in a row against Yale (2-7, 2-4), and it would put the seniors among their two predecessors as the winningest classes in Harvard football history.
“It’s all coming down to the wire the last week,” defensive lineman James Duberg said after practicing under the lights at Harvard Stadium. “There’s absolutely a historical component to it. So there’s a lot on the line.”
This year, more than usual.