Hanover
On Memorial Field’s visiting sidelines, Brown kicker Ben Rosenblatt gave voice to what virtually everyone in the stadium had to be thinking.
“What kind of football game is this?!” shouted the diminutive booter, his expression a mixture of shock, delight and befuddlement.
The kind of game where the deciding margin of victory in the Bears’ 24-21 victory was provided by a 52-yard field goal from Rosenblatt. The junior transfer from Division III Trinity (Conn.) College has been on the team fewer than three weeks after sending an email successfully asking for a tryout. His kick came as the first half expired and gave the visitors a 24-7 lead.
The type of clash in which the teams combined for 14 penalties and committed several more that were declined.
The sort of contest that will cause Dartmouth’s players, coaches and fans to wince for weeks after watching the Big Green make glaring mistakes on offense, defense and in the kicking game.
“These ones you don’t sleep on,” said Big Green coach Buddy Teevens as he exited the postgame news conference in Floren Varsity House. A year after sharing the Ivy title, Dartmouth is 4-5 overall and 1-5 in league play.
Among the memories that doubtless plagued the coach were those involving a record-setting, yet flawed, performance by Dartmouth quarterback Heneghan. The first-year starter threw for a school-record 440 yards by completing 37 of 53 passes, but had three tosses picked off and lost a fumble.
“Extremely disappointed,” the junior said. “I don’t know what I would say other than that. I feel like I let the other guys down. A few of those turnovers were bad decisions and bad execution on my part. This is a tough one to swallow.”
The Big Green had a field goal attempt blocked on a low boot, shanked a punt and botched its try at an onside kick. The defense was as awful before intermission as it was outstanding after it, surrendering 247 yards before the break and just 97 during the final 30 minutes.
“We did everything we could to give the game back,” Brown coach Phil Estes said. “They turned the ball over in some key situations, and we made some big plays out of it.”
Overshadowed was a 13-catch, 171-yard receiving performance by Dartmouth freshman Hunter Hagdorn, who set the Big Green’s single-game freshman records in both categories. Sophomore teammate Miles Smith ran 17 times for 111 yards but gained only 10 of those yards after halftime, when the hosts went primarily to the air.
“He’s a great player and, more importantly, he works hard,” Heneghan said of Hagdorn. “He has good speed, and he makes the tough catches. He can make us look good when maybe the ball isn’t thrown right where it needs to be.”
Said Teevens: “He was a heralded guy coming out of high school, and he’s been everything we hoped for. He’s learned a lot and to play as much as he has and to be as savvy as he is, it’s encouraging to know he’ll be back for a while.”
Dartmouth received the opening kickoff and drove to Brown’s 9-yard line. David Smith’s 26-yard field goal attempt was blocked and returned to the Bears’ 39-yard line, from where they drove 61 yards in 11 plays and took a 7-0 lead. A 1-yard run by Johnny Pena provided the touchdown.
Dartmouth pulled into a 7-7 tie three minutes into the second quarter after driving 97 yards in 12 plays and scoring on a 1-yard plunge by sophomore Vito Penza.
Brown (4-5, 3-3) answered with 42- and 38-yard touchdown passes from Thomas Linta to Troy Doles, who scored easily on each play. The Bears led, 21-7, a minute before halftime, regained possession on an interception and procured three more points on Rosenblatt’s field goal.
“His name’s Ben, I think,” Brown linebacker Will Twyman joked. “That was a monster kick.”
Said Doles: “I’m on the other side of the locker room from the kid, so I’ve only seen him about four times. Then he comes out of nowhere and boots a 52-harder. I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ ”
Dartmouth pulled within 24-14 with 11 minutes remaining on Ryder Stone’s 9-yard touchdown run and a Smith extra point. An interception and a turnover on downs ended the hosts’ next two possessions. However, they engineered a 10-play, 92-yard drive capped by a 7-yard Heneghan touchdown run that ended the scoring with two minutes to go.
“The challenge going in at halftime was, ‘Are you going to hang your head or are you going to come back and play?’ ” Teevens said. “We could have folded the tent and run home.
“We played like a Dartmouth defense for the second 30 minutes and, offensively, we played well enough to win the game except for our turnovers.”
Notes: Dartmouth football equipment manager Steve Ward, a retired U.S. Marine, donned his military dress uniform and joined the team’s captains for the pregame coin toss. … Freshman running back Matthew Shearin, listed as Dartmouth’s shortest player at 5-foot-6, played on special teams and partially blocked a punt. … Dartmouth allowed four sacks. … The Big Green was led in tackles with nine by senior safety Lucas Bavaro, son of former New York Giants tight end Mark Bavaro. Colin Boit forced two fumbles, and Folarin Orimolade had a sack and a forced fumble. … Ten Dartmouth players caught at least one pass. … The five turnovers for Dartmouth were its most since it had six last year at Brown, though the Big Green won that game, 34-18, as the Bears turned it over seven times. … The last time Dartmouth had at least 600 yards of offense in a game was against Cornell in 1925, when it racked up 700 yards … The previous single-game passing record was set by Dalyn Williams last year against Yale when he threw for 435 yards during a 35-3 victory.