WORCESTER, Mass — Holy Cross (3-2) and Harvard (3-0) drew a big crowd of nearly 8,000 to Polar Park Saturday night for a top-25 FCS showdown.

The third annual EBW Football Classic, named for Edward Bennett Williams, saw two New England rivals battle each other.

Harvard came away the win, beating Holy Cross 38-28, despite several career-high performances from the Crusaders.

Senior receiver Jalen Coker finished the day with a career-best 176 yards. He scored two touchdowns, including his 23rd career touchdown reception, which set a new program record. He now has 24 total.

Senior quarterback Matthew Sluka threw for a career-high 320 yards.

Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said they are already looking forward to next week.

“I think we are still on the exact same mission,” Chesney said. “Nothing changes for us. That was a very good football team. They had opportunities and they made the most of them. We didn't create any opportunities for ourselves and when we had them, we didn't do a whole lot with them. So in the end, it doesn't change the way we practice. It doesn't change the way we prepare. It changes the way we have to execute at a little bit of a higher level. I thought that's an unbelievable football team. They're going to win a lot of football games. We will get right back to the drawing board tomorrow. "

Chesney said it is still the same message for the team.

“This doesn't matter emotionally,” Chesney said. “Find a way to get better. Review the film. What did they attack? What did we leave out on the field? Find our way to make sure we're continually improving. Good news is the way to get to our goal is through conference play, and luckily for us we have a conference game next week.”

Holy Cross travels to Bucknell next Saturday.