HANOVER — The Dartmouth College football team found out exactly what it was made of Saturday afternoon, fighting for a much-needed 27-21 win over Merrimack at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field.
Trailing 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Big Green (2-3 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) ripped off 13 unanswered points in the final frame and finished it off with a defensive stand in the red zone with less than a minute left, allowing the offense to run out the clock and seal their second win of the season.
“I can’t put it in words how excited I am of this group,” Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle said. “These guys did a heck of a job; they battled. I challenged them at halftime: ‘We’re going to find out what we’re made of and find out what kind of character we have, identity we have.’ and I thought these guys responded.”
It was a massive day for the Dartmouth defense. The Big Green entered Saturday having forced just one turnover and flipped the script.
Freshman linebacker Ayo Adeniyi recovered a fumble from Warriors sophomore quarterback AJ Hairston Jr., and senior linebacker Steve Simpkins Jr. and junior defensive back No’Koi Maddox each picked off the sophomore.
“I think it was really important,” senior safety Harrison Keith said about the win. The Big Green captain was second on the team in tackles with nine and had five pass breakups, one of which led to the Simpkins Jr. interception.
“It’s tough starting 1-3, but I know, and we all know, what this group is capable of — we’re not a 1-3 team, and we’re certainly not a 1-4 team,” he added.
Although the offense had its troubles, the unit made plays when it mattered most, even when its usual signal caller wasn’t at the helm.
Senior quarterback Grayson Saunier started the game, went 4-of-5 for 40 yards through the air and added 13 yards and a touchdown on the ground before exiting in the first quarter.
“Grayson had to go out of the game,” McCorkle said, adding later that he had no medical update on his captain, who remained on the sideline in his gear.
“He was out there cheering guys on, I know that. (He was) disappointed; he wanted to be out there and play, but we’re always going to make sure we take care of our guys. We’re not going to put guys in a situation — we’re going to keep them safe,” he said.
Junior quarterback Noah Trigueros came in for Saunier and went 8-of-16 for 101 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a touchdown.
“He (Trigueros) took charge; he stepped up when we needed him, but it also goes into what he does all offseason, all week, always preparing to step in and be the starter. … He did an excellent job,” said junior wideout James Elliott, who led the Big Green in receiving with 96 yards and a touchdown on four catches.
Dartmouth emphasized coming out ready this week after a slow start against Yale. It started Saturday by answering the opening bell.
In a change from the norm, the Big Green returned the opening kickoff instead of its usual fair-catch strategy after the kick bounced to wideout Luke Rives. The junior returned the football 41 yards, giving the Big Green great field position at their own 48-yard line.
Dartmouth then capitalized, driving 52 yards in 10 plays and capping it with a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Saunier, putting the Big Green up 7-0.
While the Big Green started fast, they faltered in sustaining that momentum.
After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense moved to the Merrimack 40-yard line on what would be the day’s last drive with Saunier in charge and settled for a 58-yard field-goal attempt by senior kicker Owen Zalc, which fell short.
The Warriors capitalized on the good field position, driving 60 yards in seven plays to score on a 5-yard scamper by Hairston Jr.
Merrimack then pulled out some trickery. The Warriors lined up eight players wide to the right of the long snapper and snapped the ball to senior kicker and punter Mike Ryan, who was offset to the right and ran it in for a successful two-point conversion, giving Merrimack an 8-7 lead.
The first Dartmouth drive of the afternoon led by Trigueros went three-and-out, and the Warriors responded by marching 78 yards in 13 plays. Senior running back DeMarcus McElroy capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run. The score, combined with a missed extra point, put Merrimack up 14-7 with 8:07 left in the second quarter.
From then on, the scoring ground to a halt as each squad punted twice and the Big Green let the time run out on its final drive before the break.
Stingy defense continued early in the second half as both teams traded punts to begin the third frame.
Maddox picked off Hairston Jr. on the Warriors’ second third-quarter drive, but the offense did nothing with it, going three-and-out.
After Merrimack punted again, the Dartmouth offense got the spark it needed. On the first play after the punt, senior wideout Nick Lemon took a 63-yard reverse to the Merrimack 8-yard line. Three plays later, Trigueros punched it in from a yard out to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
Merrimack responded with its own touchdown drive to retake the lead. The march covered 75 yards in seven plays and ended with a 15-yard run by senior running back Matthias Latham.
Trailing 21-14 in the fourth, the Big Green offense kept making plays.
On second-and-10 from Dartmouth’s 41-yard line, Trigueros checked out of the original play call, dropped back and found an open Elliott, who took it 59 yards to the house to tie the game with 14:10 remaining.
“I mean, it’s something that we talked about on the sideline,” Trigueros said. “If they gave us a certain look, we wanted to give them something else, and the O-line did a great job of executing. And then James made a play, so I didn’t really have to do much, honestly, other than just give him the ball.”
The defense then did its job, forcing turnovers on consecutive drives: the fumble and Simpkins Jr.’s pick, both of which turned into successful field goals for Zalc from 50 and 42 yards out, respectively, to give Dartmouth a 27-21 lead with 7:09 left.
Merrimack’s last-gasp drive got them to the Big Green 14-yard line, but the Dartmouth defense held firm.
On third-and-3, Maddox blanketed sophomore tight end Andrew Korkosz, forcing an incompletion, and Hairston Jr.’s fourth-down pass to redshirt junior wideout Austin Palmer was caught but out of the back of the end zone, giving the Big Green the ball back.
Dartmouth got one first down and milked the rest of the clock to win.
As the Big Green try to keep pace in the fight for an Ivy League title and a berth in the FCS playoffs with only conference opponents left on the schedule, they’ll take it one game at a time.
“There’s nothing else to think about but Columbia,” McCorkle said.
Dartmouth visits the Lions (4-1 overall, 1-1 league) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
