Dartmouth Football Ends Season on Road at Princeton

HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth football will end its season on the road at Princeton after a thrilling overtime victory versus Brown last weekend in the last home stand of 2006. The Big Green and the Tigers will meet at Princeton Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1:00 pm. Dartmouth leads the overall series, 42-39-4, and is 30-29-3 in Princeton.

Last season the Big Green and Princeton met at Dartmouth's Memorial Field, the Tigers were victorious, shutting out the Big Green, 30-0. The Tiger defense limited Dartmouth to just six first downs, 89 yards of total offense and minus-6 yards rushing. Offensively, Princeton netted 205 rushing yards and 316 yards overall while holding the ball for 39 minutes and eight seconds. The Tigers' special teams were also dominating as Derek Javarone was 3-for-3 on field goals. The Big Green failed to convert a fake field goal and saw another field goal attempt come up short and be returned 100 yards for a backbreaking touchdown.

With a victory against Dartmouth, the Tigers would win a share of the Ivy League title no matter what happens elsewhere in the league. A Princeton win and a Harvard win over Yale would give the Tigers the outright title. A Princeton win and a Yale win over Harvard would leave the Tigers and Bulldogs tied for the title. A Princeton loss and a Harvard win would mean a three-way tie among the Crimson, Tigers and Bulldogs. A Princeton loss and a Yale win would give Yale the outright title.

"They have everything to play for and they need to win," said head coach Buddy Teevens. "They embarrassed us a year ago. They did everything right and we did everything wrong. In that vein we're preparing for an outstanding football team and I know they got to the position they're in by beating some very good teams. They've got an awful lot of good things going for them."

Last weekend against Brown, senior tailback Jason Bash (Ramona, Calif.) blasted over from the one-yard line in overtime, propelling the Dartmouth football team to a 19-13 overtime victory. Bash's touchdown capped off a dramatic comeback that started in the fourth quarter as Brown held a 10-0 lead after three periods.

"We had to have four or five critical things happen," Teevens said. "We hadn't converted the better part of the afternoon but when we had to stop them we were able to. All the criticals worked out for us at the right time."

The Big Green got on the board with 12:24 remaining in the fourth when sophomore Nate Servis (Milwaukee, Wis.) capped off a 12-play, 74-yard drive to close the gap to 10-7. The score was deadlocked at 10-10, when junior kicker Andrew Kempler (Westport, Conn.) booted a 35-yarder with 6:59 on the clock. With 1:48 to go, Brown's Steve Morgan kicked his second field goal of the game for a 13-10 Bear lead. Dartmouth took the kickoff and started a drive from its own 20. Seven plays later, Kempler lined up a 39-yarder and tied the game at 13-13 as time expired, forcing the overtime. Brown won the toss and elected to defer, putting Dartmouth to work first. Starting from the Bears 25, the Big Green found the end zone in six plays as Bash -- who didn't expect to play because of an injury -- punched in from the one. One of the key plays was a 16 yard scamper by quarterback Mike Fritz (Houston, Texas), giving Dartmouth a first down. Kempler's PAT banged off the right upright, keeping it 19-13 in favor of the Big Green.

Fritz completed 24-of -36 attempts for 250 yards and was Dartmouth's leading rusher with 58 yards on 17 carries. He completed seven balls for 99 yards to senior Ryan Fuselier (Escondido, Calif.). Defensively, junior Justin Cottrell (Somers Point, N.J.) had another strong day with 13 tackles, including six solo, to go along with one sack.

"It was a total team effort," Teevens said. "Defensively it was one of our best days. Our punt game worked well for us and while the field goal part of our game was a little frustrating, Kempler responded when we needed him to. When we needed to execute we did and that was big for us."

Teevens is expecting this weekend's game to be one of the most exciting his team has played all season. "Princeton plays a full 60 minutes and they play hard the whole time. Their quarterback is extremely gifted. He can hurt you with the run or with the pass. He can ad lib like no other. We need to be prepared to defend not only the pass but defend the quarterback on the run because those are things Princeton does really well."

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