Hanover
“Being tough-minded, we talked about that all week,” said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, whose 2-0 team blocked two extra-point attempts and overcame nine penalties to claim its home opener. “Our guys have a knack for getting kicks, and I think they got into (Holy Cross’) heads a bit.”
Dartmouth won its ninth consecutive nonconference game, its first overtime contest since 2013 and its first overtime game at home since 2009. The Big Green’s defensive line was exceptional and pressured Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals, but the fifth-year senior repeatedly completed passes off his back foot.
Extra time was necessitated after Holy Cross drove 86 yards in 13 plays and scored with 3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Pujals threw 6 yards to Blaise Bell for the tying score. The signal caller took an explosive hit just after scrambling left and firing the ball in front of the goal post.
Said Teevens: “There’s no place else he could have put that pass and have it be a touchdown.”
Holy Cross’ extra-point kick attempt was low and into the line and after a scramble, the ball popped loose and Danny McManus returned it to midfield. There, he committed a blatant forward pass to Jarius Brown, whose run the rest of the way was negated by the penalty.
Dartmouth lost the coin toss before overtime and went on offense first but scored in just four plays. Quarterback Jack Heneghan faked a handoff right before throwing to tight end Stephen Johnston in the left flat. The senior broke Damion Baker’s tackle at the 5-yard line to put his team up, 26-20. David Smith added an extra point.
Holy Cross pulled within 27-26 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Diquan Walker. Crusaders coach Tom Gilmore, a former Dartmouth defensive coordinator, elected to play for the victory. A Pujals pass to Jayke Simsheuser in the left flat was followed by linebacker Jake Moen, who knocked him off-balance for the tackle.
“That was a hell of a football game,” said Gilmore, whose team converted each of its six fourth-down chances and entered the night having made all 10 of its extra-point attempts and seven of eight field-goal tries. “I knew the play before that we were going for two.
“I thought the momentum was going our way, and you (choose to) go on defense first (in overtime) to put yourself in position to win the game right there.”
Dartmouth opened the scoring during the 10th minute when Heneghan threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Emory Thompson on the right side of the end zone. The first of Smith’s three extra points made the score 7-0.
Holy Cross produced a 7-7 tie six minutes later when Puljas hit Bell with a 7-yard toss. The play capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive.
A career-long 42-yard field goal by Smith put the hosts up, 10-7, three minutes into the second quarter. Colin Boit’s interception 10 seconds later put the ball back in Dartmouth’s possession, but its subsequent drive came up short near the goal line when holder Drew Hunnicutt was tackled on a fake field-goal attempt.
“That’s one where I was like, ‘Oh my God, what was I thinking?’ ” Teevens said. “They defended it well, and if we lose, I feel like a goat.”
The next Big Green drive ended with Heneghan being simultaneously tackled and stripped of the ball at midfield by two Crusaders. Holy Cross drove 50 yards in eight plays and scored on a 7-yard run by Miles Alexander three minutes before halftime.
Down, 14-10, Dartmouth marched 57 yards in 12 plays and completed a pass to the Holy Cross 1-yard line just 15 seconds before intermission. A holding penalty wiped out that play, however, and Smith booted a 35-yard field goal as time expired to make the score 14-13 for the Crusaders.
Holy Cross fumbled a punt reception at midfield with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter, and McManus recovered. Two plays later, Ryder Stone sprinted right and cut up 44 yards between the hash marks and the numbers into the end zone. Smith’s kick made the score 20-14.
Holy Cross attempted a 32-yard field goal with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, senior defensive lineman Jeremiah Douchee pushed up the middle and blocked the fourth kick of his career.
“He gets help from Rocco Di Leo and Jackson Perry next to him,” said defensive lineman Charlie Pontarelli. “He has long arms and a knack for getting into the gaps.”
Heneghan completed 18 of 25 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and Stone carried 17 times for 106 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Hagdorn caught seven passes for 54 yards, Davis Brief punted six times for an average of 43.3 yards and Meile had a game-high 12 tackles.
Pujals was 26-of-48 for 220 yards and two touchdowns and had one toss intercepted. Dartmouth visits Pennsylvania on Friday night for its Ivy League opener.
Notes: Lebanon High running back and linebacker Matt Eylander was among a group of Dartmouth recruits on the sidelines before kickoff Saturday. … Hagdorn, last year’s Ivy League rookie of the year, started Saturday after sitting out the season opener with an injury, as did running back Miles Smith. Out with an injury was running back Rashaad Cooper, a frequent contributor. … Out for the season but on the sidelines was reserve receiver Darryl Mobley, who suffered a broken fibula and tore an ankle ligament in a gruesome practice accident this week. Mobley said he’s scheduled for Monday surgery. … Defensive back D.J. Avery, who had an interception return for a touchdown last week, left with a second-quarter injury and didn’t return. … Joining medical personnel to examine injured players on the field was former Big Green receiver Tim McManus, now a fourth-year medical student at Ohio State. He’s working a monthlong rotation with Dartmouth team orthopedist Charlie Carr, following another such stint at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. … Lloyd Lee, a Holy Cross defensive assistant, is a 1998 Dartmouth graduate and former star Big Green defensive back who later played in the NFL. … Ben Abercrombie, the Harvard freshman who suffered a serious neck injury and paralysis during the Crimson’s game at Rhode Island last week, narrowed his college choices to Harvard, Dartmouth and Yale last year. Various media reports this week have conveyed doctors’ hopes that the Alabama native can regain full use of his extremities. … For a second consecutive year, Ivy League teams will kick off from the 40-yard line when they play each other but from the 35 during nonconference games. It’s part of the Ancient Eight’s movement to limit concussions. … Spinning tunes over the public address on Saturday night was Dartmouth and Upper Valley Nighthawks infielder Justin Fowler. … Dartmouth and Yale are the only Ivy League teams without a player on an NFL roster or practice squad. The Big Green has the longest drought of any league team since a former player has competed in an NFL regular season game. Tight end Casey Cramer was the last, in 2009. He has since worked as the Tennessee Titans’ chaplain. … Dartmouth men’s golf coach Rich Parker easily bested women’s rugby coach Katie Dowty and field hockey boss Amy Fowler in a previously taped burrito-eating contest that was shown on the scoreboard during the second quarter. … The Dartmouth marching band featured 21 performers. … Heneghan can speak Japanese, as he disclosed during another scoreboard video segment.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.