Big Plays Abound in 49-7 Romp Over Sacred Heart

Saturday, September 26

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-0

Sacred Heart

2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Sacred Heart

Dartmouth

Big Plays Abound in 49-7 Romp Over Sacred Heart

9/26/2015 9:44:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth celebrated the facelift to Memorial Field and its uniforms by trouncing Sacred Heart on Saturday evening in front of 7,363 fans, 49-7. The Big Green (2-0) had eight plays of more than 30 yards on the night, including a 60-yard touchdown catch by senior Victor Williams and a 77-yard interception return for the game's final score by senior safety David Caldwell as Dartmouth enjoyed its largest margin of victory since blanking Columbia two years ago, 56-0.

Reserve quarterback Kevin Duke threw for 185 yards for the visiting Pioneers (2-2), but it was not nearly enough to keep Sacred Heart from dropping its second straight game.

Senior Dalyn Williams recorded his fourth career 300-yard passing game by completing 21-of-28 throws for 313 yards and the one long touchdown to his namesake, plus ran for another score. The ground game was working as well as sophomore Ryder Stone racked up 72 rushing yards on just seven carries, two of which ended in the end zone. In all, Dartmouth racked up 499 total yards, 398 of which came in the opening half as the Green built up a 35-0 lead.

Dressed in all black uniforms from head to toe for the first time, Dartmouth tore through the Sacred Heart defense on the game's opening possession, advancing as deep as the four-yard line. But on the seventh play of the drive, Alec Finelli forced a Big Green fumble and Kevin Barry pounced on it to deny Dartmouth a golden scoring opportunity.

Not much else went right for the Pioneers in the first half, starting with the very next play as the snap was fumbled and recovered in the end zone by senior Cody Fulleton for the touchdown the Big Green thought had slipped away. When Sacred Heart fumbled the kickoff away, Dartmouth methodically moved the 25 yards in nine plays with Stone scoring on a one-yard dive for a 14-0 lead.

Stone made the next Big Green possession take much less time by bursting 62 yards down to the Pioneer nine on the first play. Senior Brian Grove gave Stone a breather and wasted no time by running it in from there, giving the home team a 21-point lead less than 10 minutes into the contest.

Sacred Heart finally mounted a drive and threatened to score early in the second quarter. Facing 4th-and-goal at the five, the Pioneers elected to kick, only to have the snap go high and be recovered by Dartmouth's Danny McManus.

Later in the second quarter, Dalyn Williams guided the offense through an 11-play, 63-yard drive, culminating with Williams keeping the handoff and finding his way to the end zone. Little more than two minutes later, the Williamses connected for the 60-yard bomb to make it a 35-0 game at the intermission.

After regrouping during the break, Duke — who replaced starter R.J. Noel in the second quarter — appeared to have the Pioneers on track as they advanced into the red zone. But on 3rd-and-1 at the 10, Duke ran into senior linebacker Zach Slafsky, who stripped the ball free and claimed it for his own.

Sacred Heart finally dented the scoreboard the next time it took possession as Nate Chavious dove in from a yard out to finish off a 14-play, 63-yard drive. The response was swift as a Williams 20-yard reception and a Grove 21-yard jaunt highlighted a 60-yard drive that Stone ended on his three-yard run.

Caldwell's 77-yard interception return in the fourth quarter was merely stamp of approval as the Big Green cruised to the victory.

The Dartmouth defense was stellar, posting eight tackles for a loss — including three sacks — recovering four fumbles, breaking up seven passes and collecting the one interception. Senior cornerback Vernon Harris led all players with a career-high 10 tackles, while junior linebacker Alex McCrory made eight stops.

Jackson King caught six passes for an even 100 yards for the Pioneers, and Tyler Dube added four catches for 76 yards. Ose Imeokparia led SHU with 48 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Dartmouth opens up Ivy play next Saturday on the road against a Penn (1-1) team coming off a shocking 24-13 upset win over fourth-ranked Villanova. Sacred Heart plays its fourth straight road game on Saturday against Robert Morris to begin play in the Northeast Conference.

Notes: Dartmouth renovated the West Stands (built in 1923) and built a new press box, both of which were in use for the first time … the 178 receiving yards for Williams are the 10th most in a game for the Big Green. Jack Daly '84 holds the record with 219 against Colgate in 1982 … the Big Green are 2-0 for the first time since 2012, but have not started a season 3-0 since 1997 … four Dartmouth receivers caught the first pass of their career in the game: seniors Jvonte Brooks, Dan Gorman and Jonathan Moran, plus sophomore Cameron Skaff.