HANOVER — For one game, at least, the Dartmouth College football team seems to have alleviated its biggest concern.
The Big Green’s reworked offensive line helped pave the way for a big day for the run game, as Dartmouth rushed for 308 yards in a season-opening 35-13 victory over Valparaiso on Saturday at Memorial Field.
Fifth-year Zack Bair led the multi-faceted rushing attack with a career-high 169 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown, with senior quarterback Nick Howard and senior tailback Noah Roper also pitching in. Playing with the lead on every offensive possession after their first, the Big Green ran the ball 45 times and attempted just 10 passes.
“There were a lot of questions this summer, a lot of new faces, but they stepped up and made a real statement,” Bair said. “Any new offensive line that comes in here is going to have a baptism by fire with our defensive line, that’s always an elite part of our team, so they got them ready all summer. They answered some questions.”
The Beacons’ opening drive stalled just across midfield after fifth-year cornerback Robert Crockett III broke up a pass on third down, and Bair began his big day with a 22-yard run into Valparaiso territory. That set up a one-yard touchdown run by Howard, capping a 13-play, 88-yard march that took nearly 7 ½ minutes off the clock.
Following a Beacon field goal, Howard and company went right back to work. Howard’s best throw of the day, a 42-yard touch pass to junior Jace Henry, led to another touchdown scamper from the quarterback. This time, he beat the defense to the right pylon for his second score of the game.
“I was really impressed with our guys,” Howard said. “The offensive line especially; everybody wants to doubt those guys. That’s a lot more college snaps than I’ve ever taken, but I feel awesome.”
Valparaiso hung around, though, starting its next drive in Dartmouth territory following Jeffery Vercher’s kickoff return, and a pass interference penalty against junior safety Leonard St. Gourdin set up an Aaron Dawson touchdown run that cut the Big Green lead to four.
But three consecutive Beacons penalties, including two for unnecessary roughness, moved the ball from the Dartmouth 38 to the Valparaiso 8, and one play later, Roper ran through a big hole for the Big Green’s third touchdown in as many possessions.
“I didn’t understand why we lost our composure,” Valparaiso coach Landon Fox said. “It’s a one-score game; what are we all riled up about? I don’t know what we were frustrated about.
“The No. 1 coaching point in the locker room after the game was our inability to have composure. It needs to get fixed. A couple of the guys that (were penalized), they didn’t play the rest of the game.”
Following a Dartmouth punt, the Beacons again made it a one-possession game with a field goal on their first drive of the second half, but Dartmouth’s defense was stout after that. Two more Valparaiso penalties aided the Big Green on their ensuing possession, which ended with Bair slipping a tackle for a five-yard touchdown.
The Beacons drove to the Dartmouth 5 early in the fourth quarter before junior safety Cam Maddox imposed his will, making three straight stops for a net loss of two yards and then breaking up a pass in the end zone on fourth down.
“He’s just a competitor,” Big Green coach Buddy Teevens said. “He hasn’t had a lot of snaps before, (but) he’s very talented. He’s just the consummate team guy: Works hard, doesn’t say much, but competes.”
Dartmouth gifted Valparaiso another chance to get back in the game when Howard fumbled a bad snap and the Beacons’ Max Franco recovered for the game’s only turnover, but again the Big Green defense stood tall, with Crockett, fifth-year linebacker Joe Heffernan and senior safety Quinten Arello all making big plays to keep Valparaiso out of the end zone.
Instead of running out the clock, Teevens chose to stretch the lead late in retaliation for what he deemed were cheap shots at Howard. Henry’s one-yard touchdown run with 32 seconds left accounted for the final margin.
“We could have taken a knee and just finished the game off. It was payback,” Teevens said. “I’ve never done that in my career before, but it was certainly deserved today.”
Howard completed eight of his 10 passes for 85 yards, roughly half of which came on the 42-yard completion to Henry. He also rushed for 57 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, with Roper carrying six times for 52 yards and a score.
Junior linebacker Macklin Ayers, in his first varsity start, had a team-high 11 tackles, and senior defensive end Shane Cokes had the game’s only sack. That goes for both sides — that Dartmouth offensive line, in addition to their success in run blocking, did not allow a sack.
The Big Green (1-0) hit the road for the first time next week, traveling to Fairfield, Conn., to take on Sacred Heart.
“We’ve been practicing for a month now,” Howard said. “It felt really good to get out there and (show) what we’ve been working so hard on.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.