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Yale Beats Harvard — And Football Teams Can Cite It

A small group of students in matching team t-shirts stands in conversation on a grassy field
Players from the Yale Law Journal team huddle around co-caption Chase Hinman ’25.

Yale beat Harvard on the football field for the second consecutive year this fall — and players can cite that. In fact, they probably will.  

That’s because this game was between the editors of the Yale Law Journal and the Harvard Law Review, whose collaborations more often concern standards for scholarly references to legal documents.

The Yale law students’ decisive 49-28 victory on Nov. 23 was at Cambridge Commons, not far from where Harvard students edit legal scholarship. Like the better-known football rivalry known as The Game, the journal editors’ match alternates locations every year. (Both journals are published by student-run organizations independent from their respective schools.)

Playing flag football helps the two publications’ editors maintain a friendly relationship and see a different side of each other, Yale Law Journal team co-caption Taiwo Dosunmu ’25 said.

“Spending the morning running around in the dirt is an amazing way to get our heads out of the footnotes for a little while, all while getting the competitive juices flowing and representing a publication that plays a large role in editors’ law school experience,” he added.

A player wearing the jersey with the number 134 runs across a grassy field with arms raised while a small group of players runs in the distance
Quarterback Matt Beattie-Callahan ’26 runs across the field. The jersey number is this year's law journal volume.

According to the official account of the game provided by co-captain Chase Hinman ’25, each team made a strong showing in the first half, with few defensive stops and three touchdowns each. The first half ended with a Harvard turnover following a diving flag pull by Michael Nachman ’26 and Bryce Morales ’26 converting a catch into seven points on a fourth-down play.

In the second half, Nate Brown ’25 made a leaping interception and returned it across the entire length of the field for a lead-taking touchdown — a feat that helped earn him the title of game MVP. From then on, according to Hinman, the Yale team was “on fire.” Riley Gordon ’25 stonewalled Harvard’s offense and quarterback Matt Beattie-Callahan ’26 evaded rushers to put passes in the hands of receivers. He went on to have a “perfect” game: no interceptions, no sacks, and six passing touchdowns.

A group of students in matching game t-shirts pose for a group photo on a grassy field with one student holding a football
The Yale Law Journal team. Editor-in-Chief Lily Moore-Eissenberg ’25 holds the football.

The annual game is part of a tradition that goes back at least until the 1950s. For years, it wasn’t the only time law journal editors met on the football field. A spring tournament once included teams from all four schools — Yale, Harvard, Penn and Columbia — whose law journal editors jointly compile the legal citation guide known as “The Bluebook.” That event was revived just for 2023. The Yale Law Journal also happened to win that game and, as with the more recent victory, there was probably some noise.

“Editing can be such a quiet, serious business,” Yale Law Journal Editor-in-Chief Lily Moore-Eissenberg ’25 said. “I love this game because it gives us a chance to cheer each other on at the top of our lungs.”