HANOVER — For the second week in a row, the Dartmouth College football team had a chance late against a quality foe but couldn’t deliver, dropping a 31-28 decision to Monmouth on Saturday at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field, the Big Green’s first loss in a home opener since 2013.
Trailing by three points with 1:09 left and no timeouts, the Big Green drove from their 25-yard line to the Hawks’ 47 with 33 seconds left thanks to a pass interference penalty and a 14-yard pass completion from senior quarterback Grayson Saunier to freshman wideout Kareem Fisher.
Following an incompletion, a short scramble and a spike to stop the clock, Dartmouth faced fourth-and-5 with 7 seconds remaining from Monmouth’s 42-yard line. With a chance to send the contest to overtime, senior kicker Owen Zalc — the reigning Ivy League special teams player of the week — trotted out.
From 59 yards out, with the football on the right hash mark, the two-time All-Ivy first-teamer had the accuracy but not the distance, the result solidifying the Big Green’s first 0-2 start to a season since 2009.
“Disappointing; I thought we gave ourselves chances there and just came up short,” Dartmouth head coach Sammy McCorkle said after the loss.
“I told the guys just now that I thought the effort — and the guys battled, they battled. We were behind there a couple times, and our guys battled right back into the game, made some key plays at critical times, but we just didn’t make enough,” he added.
A bright spot for the Big Green on Saturday was their run game. After just 62 yards on the ground last week in a 24-20 loss to No. 7 Lehigh, Dartmouth amassed 235 rushing yards against the Hawks (3-2). Sophomore running back Myles Craddock led the way with 140 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
“That was a big point of emphasis — we knew we were better than last week. I think the O-line did a great job coming off the ball early; we kind of got in a good rhythm,” Craddock said.
“In the second half, we just didn’t do enough to finish the game. Can’t put the ball on the ground. I think there’s some things to build off of, but again, like it’s the small stuff, and we’ve got to keep building into next week.”
The passing game, however, couldn’t build on its performance from a week ago, even if much of the second half was accompanied by rain. The Big Green threw for just 148 yards. Saunier completed two touchdowns passes but finished 11-of-27 and lost a fumble.
On the other side of the ball, Monmouth took what the Big Green defense gave. The Hawks had 483 yards of offense, most of which came through the air.
Monmouth redshirt sophomore quarterback Frankie Weaver faced little pressure all afternoon and was 33-of-42 for 313 yards and two touchdowns.
“Hats off to him. He did everything right that he could do,” Dartmouth senior safety and captain Harrison Keith said. “I think there was a lot of dinking and diming. Obviously there was a couple big plays, but I think he was just able to get his receivers the ball in space, so hats off to him.”
Keith finished with a team-high 13 total tackles for the Big Green.
The game did not start great for the Big Green as Monmouth came out on its first drive pushing the pace, flying 75 yards down the field in 11 plays in just under four minutes. Sophomore running back Elijah Jennings capped the march with a 1-yard TD rush to put the Hawks up 7-0.
The Big Green answered immediately — albeit a little more slowly — by marching 75 yards in 12 plays in nearly 5½ minutes. Saunier’s 20-yard scoring pass to junior wide receiver James Elliott punctuated the tying score.
After a short break in the scoring, the Hawks would get on the board again to begin the second quarter, completing a 14-play, 80-yard drive, nickeling and diming the Big Green through the air and on the ground until Weaver threw a 17-yard strike to junior wideout Christian Harrison to retake the lead.
This time, the Big Green did not answer and eventually found themselves behind 21-7 with 7:36 remaining in the half after the Hawks completed a 72-yard drive with a 23-yard touchdown reception from redshirt junior receiver Tra Neal.
Trailing by 14, the Big Green offense got back on track. Dartmouth cut the deficit to a touchdown on a three-play, 75-yard drive that included a 29-yard rush from Saunier and an 18-yard sprint from Craddock, who followed that up with a drive-capping 28-yard TD run to make it 21-14.
Then it was time for the Big Green defense to make its mark, holding the Hawks to a 41-yard field goal attempt on the ensuing possession, which Monmouth missed. The offense took advantage, driving down the field in 2½ minutes to tie the game. Senior tight end Taysire Williams got the tying score on a two-yard reception with 9 seconds remaining in the half shortly after a Saunier rushing touchdown was wiped out by a holding call. A Monmouth pass interference flag helped set up Williams’ TD moment.
The Big Green’s offense carried its momentum into the second half, going 75 yards in 15 plays and capping it with a 3-yard rushing touchdown from Saunier to take the lead for the first time at 28-21. Those would be the last points Dartmouth would score, as both offenses mostly ground to a halt in the second half, largely due to the weather.
The Big Green couldn’t capitalize on a forced fumble on Monmouth’s ensuing drive, punting the ball away and setting up a 9-play, 50-yard drive from the Hawks to tie the game with 12:56 remaining.
On its next possession, Dartmouth turned the ball over amid increasingly slick conditions, as Saunier had the football slip out of his hand as he looked to throw, resulting in a Monmouth fumble recovery. The Big Green got a stop, though, to keeping things even.
The Hawks took the lead for good with a drive starting from their own 36-yard line with 5:50 left. Redshirt sophomore Sky Sholder kicked the game-deciding field goal from 25 yards out with 1:09 remaining, doinking the football off the right upright for a 31-28 lead the Big Green could not overcome.
“We’re going to learn a lot from this game. … As coaches, we’ll learn from this; there’s a lot of stuff that us coaches have to look at, too, and make sure that we prepare our guys. Because it’s Ivy time now; it’s playoff time,” McCorkle said.
The Big Green open Ivy League play on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when they host Penn (1-1) for homecoming at Memorial Field.
