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The Rams began with the ball, but it was only six plays before the visitors punted. Harvard’s drive lasted only three. The proceeding punt went a little less smoothly. The muffed snap was sent into the back of a friendly blocker and out the back of the end zone for a safety.

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The Crimson notched the next points on the foot of junior kicker Jake McIntyre. The third-year scored most the points for Harvard on the night, nailing all three of his field goal attempts — one from 37 yards and two from 34.

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The Rams wasted no time negating the Crimson’s newly acquired 3-2 lead. Rhode Island captain quarterback JaJuan Lawson marched the team down the field, tossing a lofty 37-yard pass to junior tight end Joey Kenny.

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The captain wasn’t done. Lawson immediately nailed a 45-yard route to sophomore Isaiah Coulter after Harvard went three-and-out on its next drive.

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The march concluded with Lawson sprinting into the end zone himself, leaping into a Crimson defender, flipping into the endzone and limping off the field. Lawson did not return to play.

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By halftime, Harvard entered the locker room down 16-3.

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For the entirety of the second stanza, sophomore Vito Priore took over the Rams’ offensive reins. The Crimson defense shuttered Rhode Island’s offensive production under Priore, allowing only two first downs all half.

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With the stops, Harvard’s offense got rolling again, pushing far enough down the turf to get within McIntyre’s range.

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While the Ram’s offense never scored again, it’s kick returner, Ahmere Dorsey, did take one kick 97 yards to add six more points to the visiting team’s tally. It wasn’t until the beginning of the fourth quarter that  the Crimson finally scored its first touchdown. On a sprint up the middle, sophomore Devin Darrington made a move and took the run 36 yards to the house.

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Harvard would not score again. The home defense, however, still did not relent.

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With three and a half minutes to play, Rhode Island led by seven and the Crimson had the ball. Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Jake Smith tossed his first interception of the night.

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The Rams’ Priore quickly returned the favor, throwing an interception of his own.

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With the ball, 80 yards separated Harvard from pushing the game to overtime. Another two plays later, Smith’s pass soared over the receivers head and into the awaiting defenders hands.

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With the win, the five game series between the two programs come to a closes for the foreseeable future. The Crimson finishes the series 3-2, but lost final game, 23-16.