21-0 Second Quarter Leads Big Green Past Princeton

Friday, November 8

Princeton, N.J.

6:00 PM

Dartmouth College

7-1 , 4-1

Princeton

2-6 , 1-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Dartmouth

Princeton

21-0 Second Quarter Leads Big Green Past Princeton

11/9/2024 12:39:00 AM | Football

Box Score Postgame Interviews

Dartmouth improves to 4-0 on the road this season

By: Justin Lafleur

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Dartmouth football team outscored Princeton 21-0 in the second quarter, which proved to be the difference as the Big Green went on to a 26-17 win on Friday evening in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPNU. Grayson Saunier came in for two of the touchdowns via 1-yard runs, while after a punt block, Jackson Proctor found Chris Corbo for a 5-yard touchdown catch with 15 seconds on the second-quarter clock to give the Big Green a 21-7 halftime lead.

With the win, Dartmouth improves to 7-1 and 4-1 in the Ivy League. Princeton falls to 2-6 and 1-4 in the league.

"It wasn't pretty, but the guys did a good job of fighting and kept putting themselves in situations to make plays when we needed them," said Sammy McCorkle, Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. "We were fortunate enough to come out with a win at the end there."

Dartmouth's defense impressed, especially in the first half when the Big Green allowed just 31 yards. That included allowing minus-6 yards to Princeton in the second quarter. Dartmouth outgained the Tigers 130 to negative-6 in the second.

One of the standouts was Ejike Adele, who had a career-high 10 tackles, including two tackles-for-loss and a half sack.

"We just did a great job of doing what we had to do to win," said Adele. "Coming into it, we knew with one loss that we have to win out. There's no other option, and that's what we did. We simply got it done and I'm really proud of what we did tonight."

Along with Adele, Micah Green also set a career high for tackles (12). Thaddeus Gianaris finished with two sacks and two tackles-for-loss.

Proctor finished 21-for-30 for 185 yards and a touchdown. Chris Corbo set a career high for catches (8), going for 42 and his team-leading sixth touchdown reception of the season. Daniel Haughton had three catches for 41 yards while Grayson O'Bara tallied a career-high three for 39.

Q Jones led the Big Green in rushing with 53 yards on 20 carries. Proctor added 30.

Dartmouth got the ball first, but a fumble gave Princeton the ball on the Big Green 39-yard line. It took seven plays for the Tigers to find the end zone, as an 8-yard touchdown reception from Connor Hulstein followed by the PAT made the score 7-0.

That score remained until early in the second quarter when Dartmouth finished an 8-play, 68-yard drive with Saunier running it in from one yard out. Prior to that, Proctor found O'Bara for 28 yards then Haughton for 22 yards to reach the Princeton 1-yard line.

Grayson Saunier runs it in from one yard out and we are tied 7-7!

Central ➡️ https://t.co/bCWKmzbyWI #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/UM36BSUVbQ
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 8, 2024

Princeton got the ball back and went backwards due in large part to the Big Green defense. A Gianaris sack followed by two tackles-for-loss led the Tigers to punting from their own 9-yard line on 4th-and-26.

Dartmouth's offense kept the momentum going, driving 49 yards. After a 6-yard gain from Jones, Proctor found Sean Ward for 20 yards. The drive ended like the previous one, a 1-yard touchdown run from Saunier as Dartmouth took a 14-7 lead with 5:16 left in the second quarter.

Two Big Green touchdowns ➡️ both run in by Grayson Saunier as Dartmouth leads!

Watch on @ESPNU ➡️ https://t.co/C3EN05eMur #TheWoods #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/vzkHabjIrG
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 9, 2024

The Big Green special teams unit came up big in the final two minutes of the half, as Nico Schwikal blocked a punt, which Lou Lamar recovered and returned, setting up the offense at the Princeton 17-yard line. Five plays later, Proctor connected with Corbo in the corner of the end zone for a 21-7 halftime lead.

Big Green block the punt! Nico Schwikal and Luke Rives block the punt and Lou Lamar recovers!

Gameday Central ➡️ https://t.co/bCWKmzb17a #TheWoods #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/Hx85TdyYS8
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 9, 2024

"Our guys settled down a little bit," said McCorkle. "We were able to get better field position; that was key. We were able to flip the field a little bit there, but the offense did a great job of executing. I thought our defense locked down and figured it out and got the offense the ball."

The third quarter saw one touchdown, from Princeton, via a Luke Colella 18-yard reception with 8:10 on the clock. That pulled the Tigers within 21-14 entering the fourth.

Davis Golick proved critical in the fourth. Early in the stanza, he boomed a career-long 62-yard punt, which led to a Princeton fumble, recovered by Braden Mullen. The Big Green got one first down before Owen Zalc hit a 34-yard field goal for a 24-14 lead with 9:58 left in the fourth.

Princeton responded with a field goal, then after Dartmouth's offense stalled, Golick boomed another long punt, this time 59 yards all the way to the Princeton 2-yard line. Three plays into the Tigers' drive, quarterback Blaine Hipa was being pressured when an intentional grounding call gave Dartmouth the safety, two points and the 26-17 victory.

A safety wraps up the scoring in this one!#GoBigGreen #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/BnpmuBUNPX
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 9, 2024

Final yards were 303-175 in favor of Dartmouth, including 185-137 through the air and 118-38 on the ground.

"Our guys did a good job of doing their jobs," said McCorkle. "That was huge for us, especially on special teams, to make those plays — block a punt, get a fumble recovery. That helped us no doubt."

Dartmouth returns to action next Saturday, Nov. 16, at Cornell. Opening kickoff is set for 1 p.m. The Big Green return home for their season finale on Saturday, Nov. 23 to host Brown at 12 p.m. on Senior Day and Youth Football Day.

Tickets can be purchased HERE. Questions can be directed to the Athletics Sales Office at athletics.sales@dartmouth.edu or by calling (603) 646-2466.

NOTES: Dartmouth's 38 rush yards allowed marked its fewest since allowing 11 at Penn on Sept. 30, 2023 … The Big Green beat Princeton for the fourth time in their last five tries … This marks the second straight season Dartmouth has beaten Princeton on ESPNU … Corbo's six touchdown receptions are the most by a Big Green player since Drew Estrada had eight in 2019 … Golick's 62-yard punt was the longest by a Dartmouth punter since Brian Scullin's 62-yarder against Cornell on Nov. 8, 2008 … Golick's 59-yarder was also the longest since September of 2015, meaning in the span of the fourth quarter on Friday, Golick had the two longest punts by a Big Green punter in nine years.