The Big Green hit the accelerator pedal and pulled away late in the game to pick up their second straight win, defeating the Fordham Rams, 30-13, on Saturday afternoon at Moglia Stadium in Bronx, N.Y.
Dartmouth led Fordham 16-6 with about 12:30 remaining, but a fumble from junior quarterback Grayson Saunier opened the door to a Rams’ comeback.
The Rams took advantage of the Big Green turnover, scoring in just two plays on a five-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Gunnar Smith to sophomore wideout Jack Freeburg to cut Dartmouth’s lead to three, with just over 11:30 left in the game.
The hope of a come-from-behind win for the Rams and the homecoming crowd in attendance was dashed in short order by the Big Green.
Saunier and his offense shook off the turnover and proceeded to drive 75 yards in just five plays, capped off by a 24-yard touchdown reception from sophomore wide receiver Luke Rives to make the game 23-13.
Dartmouth’s defense ramped up the pressure late as well, sacking Smith twice on the ensuing drive to force a punt.
With the ball back, the Big Green struck quickly again. Dartmouth took five plays to go 60 yards and scored another touchdown through the air, this time to senior wide receiver Grayson O’Bara from 33 yards out to make the game 30-13, with 4:40 left in the contest, putting the game out of reach.
“It was a game of two halves,” Big Green Head Coach Sammy McCorkle said. “We’ve got to take that second half and play that for four quarters — we had good plays, we moved the ball in the first half, they had some good stops, just the finishing stuff.”
Last week against Yale, it was Saunier’s legs that were big for Dartmouth, but on Saturday, the junior’s arm got the job done. He completed just over 72% of his passes and threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns to help his team get the win.
Senior running back D.J. Crowther led the way for the Big Green on the ground, notching 91 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the Big Green were stingy, forcing seven punts. They were paced by senior linebacker Zyion Freer-Brown, who had eight tackles and a sack. Senior defensive back Sean Williams, who had a second-half interception for the second week in a row, also came through for his squad.
“I thought our defense did a good job,” McCorkle said. “Our coaches prepared well, they had a couple different wrinkles, but I thought our guys responded well, played hard, played fast.”
Like last week’s matchup, scoring was hard to come by in the first half. The Big Green offense was able to move the ball, getting deep into Rams’ territory on each of their three first-half possessions, but was unable to punch the ball in the end zone.
Dartmouth’s first drive ended with a turnover on downs as Saunier was stopped just inches from the end zone. The Big Green’s other possessions in the first two frames ended with field goals from junior kicker Owen Zalc, from 42 and 33 yards out, respectively.
Fordham matched Dartmouth’s first-half scoring with two field goals of its own from 29 and 22 yards out. The second of which came in the final seconds of the half, a few plays after a Fordham punt hit a Dartmouth player and was recovered by the Rams deep in Big Green territory.
With the game tied 6-6 coming out of halftime, the Rams turned to trickery and attempted a surprise onside kick, which failed.
The Big Green took the advantageous field position and scored in five plays on a 20-yard rush from Crowther to take a 13-6 lead.
Scoring from both teams following the opening possession of the second half, save for another successful 24-yard field goal from Zalc with 3:53 remaining in the third to extend the Big Green lead to 16-6, was minimal thanks to strong defensive play.
However, fourth-quarter follies, including a 45-yard miss from Zalc and Saunier’s fumble, opened things up, making the game a bit dicey for the visitors. Ultimately, the Big Green weathered the storm and overcame those errors to lock down the win.
After the non-conference victory, the Big Green are 4-1 overall and remain 1-1 in the Ivy League.
Dartmouth resumes Ivy League play on Friday and will look to take care of business under the lights against Columbia (1-4) at 6:00 p.m.
