Football Returns Home to Face Columbia on Homecoming

HANOVER, N.H. - Dartmouth football jumps back into Ivy League play this Saturday as the Big Green faces Columbia in the annual Homecoming game at 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Field.

Last week, Holy Cross gained a total of 503 yards against Dartmouth and the Crusaders outscored the Big Green 31-7 in the second and third quarters to earn the 41-15 victory. Dartmouth hurt itself throughout the afternoon with a total of 111 yards of penalties.

"We had a face mask, a punter interference and a pass interference that were caused by good effort," said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens. "But we had five procedure penalties and there is no excuse for those penalties."

For Dartmouth (1-4, 1-1 Ivy), senior quarterback Tom Bennewitz (Weston, Conn.) was 12-for-22 for 134 yards, while back-up quarterback Alex Jenny (Wayland, Mass.) threw his second touchdown pass of the season to senior Brian Evans (Fairfield, Texas) in the fourth quarter. "Alex was very composed during the drive," said Teevens. "There was pressure during the drive where he had to move his feet and he made some good throws."

Senior Milan Williams (Mobile, Ala.) led the ground attack with 54 yards on 17 carries, while Bennewitz ran for 40 yards and a touchdown. Evans was the top receiver on the afternoon with two catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.

On the defensive side for the Big Green, seniors John Pircon (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) and Chris Blanco (LaMirada, Calif.) each had six solo stops, with Pircon and Pete Pidermann (Hialeah, Fla.) leading the team with a total of seven tackles.

Offensively for the Lions (1-4, 0-2 Ivy), sophomore Austin Knowlin is Columbia's all-around weapon. Knowlin is averaging a league-leading 124 yards receiving with five touchdowns. He is third in the Ivy League in all purpose yards with 169 per game. Senior quarterback Craig Hormann has tossed five touchdowns, but has thrown eight interceptions. The running game is last in the Ivy League as Jordan Davis has averaged 74 yards a game and three touchdowns this season.

On defense, Columbia is tops when it comes to passing defense, but is last in the league at stopping the run. The Lions have posted a total of seven interceptions with defensive backs Clark Koury and Calvin Otis topping the Lions with two apiece. Defensive end Phillip Mitchell is among the league leaders in sacks with four, while linebacker Matt Moretto is the team leader in total tackles with 37. Moretto had 13 last Saturday against Penn.

"Their defense is pressuring and they cover well," said Teevens. "They are much improved defensively from a year ago. They play hard and we have to execute on the offensive side of the ball and do it with consistency."

Teevens says his team is ready to play in front of the home fans at homecoming. "It will be nice to be back home in a friendly environment," said Teevens. "We've only had one home game with the students. They were great our last home game (a 21-13 victory over Penn) and we are looking forward to the atmosphere this weekend."

The game will also be aired regionally on WFRD (99 Rock), the "Official Voice of Dartmouth Sports," with veteran play-by-play announcer Bob Lipman and former football captain Wayne Young '72 providing the commentary. For audio streaming information, please visit www.dartmouthsportsradio.net. For live video streaming, please visit www.DartmouthSports.com and click on Big Green Insider.

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