Allston, Mass.
The result at Harvard Stadium was Dartmouth’s 14th consecutive defeat in the series and its second setback in as many weeks after an undefeated start. Now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in league play, the Big Green retains slim hope of sharing a 19th Ivy crown, but a team with two losses has accomplished that goal only twice since the circuit was founded in 1956.
“This hurts, obviously, but we get back on the bus and prepare for Cornell at our place,” said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, whose squad next hosts a Big Red team that beat Harvard earlier this season. “There’s still games ahead.”
The visitors led, 14-0, with two minutes remaining in the first half when Danny McManus was ruled to have fumbled a punt after calling for a fair catch at his 38-yard line. Dartmouth contended the senior wasn’t given legal room to make a catch, but the officials awarded the Crimson the ball. The hosts struck soon after and pulled within 14-6.
That tally turned out to be the first of 25 consecutive Harvard points. The Crimson went up, 25-14, on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jake Smith to Aaron Shampklin with seven minutes remaining. That scoring drive began when Dartmouth turned the ball over on downs at its own 29-yard line.
“It was fourth and that much,” Teevens said, holding his hands about a foot apart. “You gotta get that, and we didn’t.”
Dartmouth’s offense finally reignited on its subsequent possession, and quarterback Jack Heneghan drove the Big Green 80 yards in 10 plays, the last his own 6-yard scoring run. A 2-point conversion pass to Dylan Mellor made the score 25-22, and Harvard later punted with 1 minute, 36 seconds remaining.
Dartmouth then moved 29 yards in six plays from its own 20-yard line. However, the last snap resulted in a Tanner Lee interception of a Heneghan pass, and the Crimson improved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in Ivy action. It has won 19 of its last 20 meetings with the Big Green.
“It seems like, every week, we’re in a battle down to the last minutes,” said Dartmouth linebacker Jack Traynor, who made a game-high 17 tackles. “We had control of that game in the first half. It’s impossible to put into words how frustrating this loss is.”
Dartmouth produced 304 offensive yards against a Harvard defense that surrendered 573 yards and 52 points to visiting Princeton last week. The Big Green managed just 89 yards rushing and one touchdown on the ground. Heneghan completed 22 of 34 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown and had two tosses intercepted.
“I wouldn’t say he didn’t do well,” Teevens said of the senior, who suffered only two interceptions during the season’s first six games. “It’s a tough outfit we were playing against.”
Dartmouth marched 80 yards in 10 plays after receiving the opening kickoff, Ryder Stone breaking a Tim Haehl tackle for a 10-yard touchdown run up the middle. David Smith’s extra point made it 7-0 in the fifth minute.
The Big Green went up, 13-0, after a 16-play, 66-yard drive was capped by Heneghan’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Hagdorn three minutes before halftime. Smith’s extra point made it 14-0, and the visitors forced a Harvard punt 1:20 before halftime. NESN replays appeared to show Dartmouth’s Isiah Swann shoving Harvard’s Jack Stansell from behind, propelling the Crimson player into McManus just before the ball reached him.
Harvard needed six plays to score on Jake Smith’s 8-yard pass to Ryan Antonellis 13 seconds before halftime. The extra-point kick attempt failed for a 14-6 score that Dartmouth thought could have possibly been 21-0 in its favor.
“The side judge said one of their guys was blocked into our return guy,” Teevens said. “It could have been a good situation for us, and it turned into a great situation for them.”
Antonellis caught another Smith touchdown pass five minutes after intermission, this one of 4 yards. A pass attempt at the conversion failed, leaving the score 14-12 for the visitors. That lead evaporated early in the fourth quarter when Smith threw another 4-yard scoring strike, this time to Henry Taylor. Again the conversion failed, this time on a run, and the score was 18-14 for Harvard.
Taylor’s tally and the drive that preceded it was set up when Davis Brief’s punt was blocked at Dartmouth’s 26-yard line. Teammate Colin Boit grabbed the bouncing ball and was tackled at the 13. The Crimson came close on several other Brief boots earlier in the afternoon.
“People usually play us to return,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy, alluding to the Crimson’s tendency to give standout Justice Shelton-Mosley as many blockers as possible. “Going after them is a bit of a change of pace.”
Dartmouth’s next two possessions ended in a Heneghan pass being intercepted and the quarterback being stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-1 at his own 29. Eight plays later, Smith threw yet another touchdown pass, this one of 11 yards to Shampklin. An extra point put the hosts up, 25-14.
“He was the difference,” Teevens said of Smith, a nimble-footed freshman who completed 18 of 35 passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns and scrambled in and out of the pocket all game. “There’s pressure and no place to go and he (escapes) multiple times.”
Dartmouth played without standout receiver Drew Hunnicutt (knee injury) for a second consecutive week. Drew Estrada caught seven passes for 58 yards, and Hagdorn hauled in six for 69 and a touchdown.
Notes: Dartmouth athletic director Harry Sheehy was back on the sidelines during the first half. Sheehy hadn’t been seen there in several weeks and said he recently spent five days in a hospital receiving intravenous antibiotics to treat a nerve problem in his leg. A diabetic, Sheehy said his condition contributed to the nerve problem, which has left him walking with a cane. … Harvard leads the teams’ series, 71-45-5, and did not allow Dartmouth to score a point during the first 16 games, starting in 1882. … The Crimson is 42-8 in October dating back to the 2006 season. … Andrew Yohe started for injured left guard John Kilcommons (knee). … Dartmouth’s defense entered the game leading the Ivies with eight interceptions in six games. It also led in turnover margin, at plus-6, but was at the bottom of the tables in red-zone offense, converting on just 14 of 21 chances.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.