Football Cruises to 41-3 Victory Over Sacred Heart

Saturday, September 25

Hanover, N.H.

1:30 PM

Dartmouth College

2-0

Sacred Heart

2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Sacred Heart

Dartmouth

Nick Howard ran for a career-high 154 yards and two touchdowns

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Football Cruises to 41-3 Victory Over Sacred Heart

9/25/2021 4:41:00 PM | Football

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Dartmouth ran for 286 yards and sacked the Pioneer QB seven times

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth ran up 286 yards on the ground with junior Nick Howard and senior Zack Bair both topping 100 to lead the Big Green (2-0) to a 41-3 victory over the Northeast Conference preseason favorite, Sacred Heart (2-2), to the delight of 5,121 fans at Dartmouth's home opener on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field. It was the Big Green's 18th consecutive victory against a non-conference opponent dating back to the 2014 season.

Howard, the second half of Dartmouth's quarterbacking tandem, piled up a career-high 154 yards on just nine carries, two of which were long touchdowns while the running back Bair piled up a career-best 103 yards on only 11 rushes, including a 47-yard jaunt to the end zone. The passing game, though used sparingly, was very effective as senior Derek Kyler was a perfect 10-of-10 through the air for 106 yards and two scores, and the Green ended up with 404 total yards of offense.

The defense was almost as good as the offense, surrendering just the three points on a field goal just before halftime. Of Sacred Heart's 274 yards of offense, 83 came during the final drive that ended at the Big Green 1 when Cam Maddox stuffed a Pioneer rusher on the game's final play, denying the visitors a trip into the end zone.

Dartmouth set the tone for the day on the very first drive, marching 75 yards in nine plays with Kyler completing all four of his passes, the last a 7-yard connection with sophomore Paxton Scott along the Pioneer sideline for the game's first score. The PAT failed, however, leaving the Big Green with a 6-0 lead barely four-and-a-half minutes into the game.

Sacred Heart looked like it would keep pace with Dartmouth when it pushed inside the Big Green 10 on its first possession. But senior linebacker Tanner Cross popped the ball loose from scrambling quarterback Marquez McCray at the 5-yard line, and senior safety Niko Mermigas pounced on the ball to deny the Pioneers.

Zack Bair breaks free for a 47-yard touchdown run vs. Sacred Heart, Sept. 25, 2021

Zack Bair broke off a 47-yard touchdown run.

In the second quarter, Bair broke loose for his 47-yard burst, and on the next Dartmouth possession, Kyler took advantage of a couple of 15-yard penalties on SHU before Kyler zipped a 9-yard strike to junior Jonny Barrett in the end zone for a 20-0 lead. The Pioneers managed to dent the scoreboard with 11 seconds before the intermission on a 39-yard field goal by Sam Renzi.

The second half belonged completely to the Big Green. Malik Grant, who posted 92 rushing yards for Sacred Heart, could not get the one yard he needed to start the third quarter, getting stuffed at the Dartmouth 46 to turn the ball over on downs. Two plays later, Howard outran the Pioneer defense and scored on a 53-yard run.

Even a rare miscue could not slow the Green when they fumbled the ball away near midfield. Junior linebacker Marques White provided one of his two sacks on the afternoon, this one a 12-yard loss, to help keep SHU from advancing the ball. And when Dartmouth began the fourth quarter facing 4th-and-2 at the Pioneer 39, Howard was called on once again and bounced to the outside with plenty of space and breezed the 39 yards for his second score of the day and a 34-0 lead.

A 64-yard punt return by junior Jamal Cooney (who earlier had a 62-yard return for a touchdown shortened by a penalty) set up a 13-yard touchdown scramble by backup quarterback Dylan Cadwallader and extra point by junior Ryan Bloch for the game's final points.

Cross led the strong defensive effort with a career-high 10 tackles while last week's Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, Jalen Mackie, pitched in nine more. Senior Bobby Jefferson joined White with two sacks as the Big Green registered seven on the day, their most since matching that total in the 2018 season finale against Brown.

McCray finished the day 11-of-15 passing for 115 yards, but thanks to the seven sacks, had negative-31 yards on 12 rushes.

Dartmouth will begin Ivy play on Friday night when the Big Green travel to Penn (1-1), which lost on the road at Lafayette today, 24-14, for a game that will be broadcast on ESPNU at 7 p.m. Big Green fans can also listen for free to Brett Franklin and Matt Corsetti call the action through the official website of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com.

Notes: Dartmouth's 8.9-yard rushing average was its best in at least 50 years … the last time two Big Green runners topped 100 yards in a game was on Oct. 27, 2018 when Jared Gerbino went for 183 and Rashaad Cooper 117 in a 24-17 victory over Harvard … this is the second game in Kyler's career that he completed every one of his passes, going 9-for-9 at Columbia on Oct. 20, 2018 … the failed PAT in the first quarter ended a streak of 51 consecutive made by the team … Dartmouth has won 22 of its last 24 games.