Charlie Smith throws 3 TD passes and Harvard wraps up fourth straight Ivy championship

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Charlie Smith threw three touchdown passes, and the Harvard defense held Pennsylvania scoreless in the second half as the Crimson rallied for a 38-24 victory on Saturday, clinching their fourth consecutive Ivy League championship in the process.

Harvard, ranked No. 19 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, trailed 24-17 at halftime after surrendering three touchdowns in the final four minutes of the second quarter.

The first of Harvard's three second-half touchdowns came in the middle of the third quarter on Smith’s 34-yard pass to Nate Bailey on the first play after a short Penn punt and 11-yard return by Bailey.

After a fourth-down sack by Ethan Carson, the Crimson had another short field, and Xaviah Bascon’s 5-yard touchdown run capped off a 34-yard drive for a 31-24 lead.

Kise Flannery’s 2-yard touchdown run with 4 1/2 minutes left in the fourth wrapped it up for Harvard (8-1, 5-1 Ivy League).

Harvard leads Princeton and Brown by one game with one game remaining. The Crimson beat both teams earlier in the season.

Smith completed 18 of 28 passes for 199 yards, 113 of which went to Bailey on eight receptions. Bascon rushed for 104 yards on 18 carries.

Karson Siqueiros-Lasky was 15 of 23 passing for 210 yards with a touchdown for Penn (4-6, 2-5).

Smith’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Bailey gave the Crimson a 17-3 lead early in the second quarter. Later in the half, Penn scored three touchdowns in the final four minutes on Siqueiros-Lasky’s 69-yard touchdown pass to Ronan Johannson, a blocked punt and Zach Darche’s 37-yard pick-six.

Harvard has a 56-39-2 lead in the series, first played in 1881.

Up next

Harvard: at Yale next Saturday.

Penn: at Princeton next Saturday.

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