BIg Green Dominate Play in 34-17 Win Over Lehigh

Saturday, September 23

Hanover, N.H.

1:30 PM

Dartmouth College

1-1 , 0-0

Lehigh

1-3 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Lehigh

Dartmouth

Sam Koscho came up with two big plays in the third quarter to help the Big Green pull away.

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

BIg Green Dominate Play in 34-17 Win Over Lehigh

9/23/2023 6:24:00 PM | Football

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Dartmouth ran 30 more plays and more than doubled the Mountain Hawks offensive yardage.

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — With the passing of Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach at Dartmouth, just four days past, the Big Green were able to control the game against Lehigh, running 30 more plays than the visitor as the Big Green (1-1) finished off their home opener with a 34-17 victory over the Mountain Hawks (1-3). The win was the first for interim head coach Sammy McCorkle, who took over leading the team after Teevens' bicycle accident back in March.

"I'm just so proud of the players," McCorkle said during a postgame press conference. "They did a phenomenal job. Everything we've asked them to do, they've done it. They are a fun group to coach, and I enjoy celebrating a win with our players and our coaches. Everyone has put in a lot of time and effort, and we know we have to continue to do that going forward."

Dylan Cadwallader completed 16-of-19 passes, one of which was a 7-yard fade into the end zone to give Dartmouth the lead just before halftime as Dartmouth racked up more than twice as many yards (346-169).

The ground game was running full force for the Big Green as Q Jones just missed out on his second career 100-yard game, taking the ball 17 times for 99 yards including a 10-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that boosted the lead to 21 points. Nick Howard ran for 70 yards on 16 carries, two of which ended in the end zone for his 11-career game with at least two touchdown runs as Dartmouth finished the day with 219 rushing yards.

Cadwallader added 110 more yards and his scoring strike to the Big Green ledger through the air, and Howard added another 20 on 5-of-7 throws. Jones was the most frequent target with five grabs for a modest 21 yards, and Isaac Boston hauled in four more for a team-high 45 yards as nine different players caught at least one pass.

With the game tied at 10, Sean Williams returned a punt 17 yards (a warmup for a 35-yard return in the second half) to the Dartmouth 33 with 3:07 remaining until halftime. Cadwallader proceeded to guide the team methodically down the field in 11 plays, completing all six of his tosses along the way while Jones and Howard added runs of 11 and 12 yards, respectively. On first-and-goal from the 7, Cadwallader dropped a beautiful pass to Paxton Scott in stride in the back corner of the end zone with 35 seconds to spare for a 17-10 lead at the intermission.

Two plays proved to be difference makers in the third quarter, giving the ball to the Green deep in Lehigh territory. The second half began with five consecutive punts, but shortly after Williams' 35-yard return to midfield, Lehigh cornerback Donovan Lassiter intercepted a deep pass at its own five. That momentum shift lasted about as long as this sentence as cornerback Leonard St. Gourdin punched the ball free from quarterback Brayten Silbor at the Mountain Hawk 16, where Big Green defensive end Ejike Adele covered it up. Five rushes later, Howard had his second 1-yard touchdown run of the game for a 24-10 advantage.

When Lehigh failed to record a first down on its next possession, fifth-year senior Sam Koscho was there to block the punt. Though the Mountain Hawks recovered it and tried to advance the ball — even trying a lateral to get into open ground — Williams made the tackle a yard shy of the marker, allowing Dartmouth to take over at the Lehigh 32.

"We knew they were blocking down, and it was just a matter of hitting the line correctly to not waste an extra step to get to the punter," Koscho said. "Hats off to (special teams coach Joe) Castellitto for telling me where to be to get that punt block."

Jones quickly converted the field postion into points for Dartmouth in the final minute of the third quarter, gobbling up 22 yards on the first play and the final 10 on the next for his first touchdown run of the season.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, nickelback Tyson McCloud broke up a third-down pass, and linebacker Danny Cronin plucked the ball out of the air for his first career interception at the Mountain Hawk 36. Dartmouth expertly worked the clock, taking up nearly eight minutes to drive a mere 27 yards in 13 plays before settling for a 26-yard Owen Zalc field goal, essentially sealing the game with a 34-10 lead and just 6:55 to play.

Lehigh tacked on a late touchdown by recovering a muffed punt at the Big Green five and took advantage of a pass interference call in the end zone on third down before finally punching the ball in on a 2-yard run by Jack DiPietro.

There was also a Dartmouth miscue on the game's first drive that gave the Mountain Hawks a sudden 7-0 lead. The Big Green drove down inside the 10-yard line, but Howard got stood up at the line of scrimmage on a run and Dean Colton stripped the ball free. Logan Jones spotted the ball on the turf at the 8, scooped it up and ran untouched the length of the field for the touchdown.

That sudden setback didn't faze the Big Green offense, however, as the unit marched 75 yards in 12 plays on the very next drive to tie the score. A 29-yard strike from Cadwallader to Isaac Boston was the big play, and Howard bulled his way in from a yard out.

In the second quarter, the two teams traded field goals — a 35-yarder by Zalc, a 26-yard by Nick Garrido — before Cadwallader found Scott for the go-ahead score.

The Dartmouth defense was stifling, yielding just eight first downs, a paltry 52 rushing yards and just one third-down conversion in 10 opportunities. Williams and Leonard St. Gourdin supplied six tackles apiece to lead the team effort.

The two Lehigh quarterbacks, Silbor and Dante Perri, combined to completed 19-of-30 passes for 115 yards with one interception.

Dartmouth will begin its Ivy League schedule next Saturday at Penn (2-0) with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at historic Franklin Field. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ while a free audio broadcast featuring Brett Franklin and Matt Corsetti will be available through the official site of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com.

Notes: Dartmouth has won nine consecutive home openers … the Big Green improved to 3-5 all-time against Lehigh, beating the Mountain Hawks for the first time in 27 years when Dartmouth was a perfect 10-0 … this was the first meeting between the two teams since 1999 … following the game, there was a gathering of remembrance for Teevens with the football team, Teevens family and numerous community members in attendance.