Dylan Cadwallader, who finished spring ball second on the depth chart behind Howard, was 5-for-10 for 24 yards. The best numbers among the quarterbacks were hung up by rising sophomore Jackson Proctor, who was 7-for-10 for 50 yards. Gavin Muir was 2-for-6 for 13 yards and Devon Lingle 2-for-5 for 7 yards.
On the opening drive of the non-tackling affair, Howard went 4-for-5, marching the Big Green from their own 25 to the 1 in 15 plays before Zach Drescher came on to kick a field goal. And while time ran out near midfield, Howard looked calm, confident and in control during a two-minute drill that started at his own seven at the end of the half.
“I thought Howard was very accurate with his throwing,” Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said. “We didn’t (throw down) the field a whole lot, but we moved consistently with drives. I thought we did a pretty good job on offense. We are playing against a good defense, so getting the ball out of our hands was important. But I would like to have seen maybe a little bit more accuracy and a little bit (improved) decision-making with some of the guys. “But this is the first game they have been in (where they) really played an appreciable amount of time. So it was a learning process. That’s why we do the game format. I said it, this is not practice. It’s a game.
“Cadwallader and Muir are the two and three right now,” Teevens continued. “Proctor is making a run and Devon Lingle is as well. But we need to improve between now and (the fall). A lot of it will be film work, reaction time, decisions. You can’t hold onto the football. We didn’t throw the ball up in the air. There were no picks today. We need to protect the football so, progress was made.”
Foremost among those progressing was Howard, who last fall ran for a team-high 787 yards and tied the school record of 15 touchdowns that had stood for 92 years.
“I have always believed I’m a very capable quarterback in both facets of the game,” he said after the game. “Obviously, Derek (Kyler) last year, what he did was invaluable, who he was as a leader and a captain. I’m just trying to take what Derek taught me both directly and indirectly and try to apply it to this year’s team. New year, new team. I’m excited to get to work.”
Howard had a 10-yard run but finished with only a handful of other carries for, well, a handful of yards. He admitted afterward that having officials blow plays dead frustrates him, although not as much as in previous years.
“I’ve gotten a lot better,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I remember even last spring I emotionally struggled with it a lot. I am somebody that contact is part of the game, obviously. I’ve gotten a lot more mature and I feel fine with it. (Quarterback coach Kevin) Daft always tells us it is out of our control. Just worry about what we can control.”
With running back Zack Bair sitting the day out after getting dinged on Tuesday, Joey Richmond led the run game with 63 yards on eight carries, the big one a 34-yarder where he started going wide to the left, smartly cut back against the grain and made it to the 6. Tight end/H-back Jace Henry got the points on a 1-yard run with Drescher striping the PAT.
Q Jones showed good speed and slinky moves with six carries for 32 yards while hard-running Noah Roper, who had his breakout game at New Hampshire last fall, carried five times for 23 yards.
With no fewer than 17 players catching passes, the receiving numbers were modest with Dale Chesson topping the stat sheet with four grabs for 18 yards. Remington Gall, who missed his freshman season while recuperating from a knee issue, caught three balls for 17 yards while wideouts Isaac Boston and Painter Richards-Baker each had two grabs, as did tight end Ross Parrish and Richmond.
Davis Golick averaged a solid 40.5 yards per punt (sans a rush) and Drescher was good on both field goal attempts of 18 and 36 yards with Cameron Baller sitting out to rest a tired leg.
With plays blown dead regularly, any defensive statistics would be more fantasy than fact but a few plays stood out. Charles Looes had two sacks, Shane Cokes and Gannon McCorkle had one apiece, and Trevon Erickson either had one or didn’t, depending on which official you believed. Alex Schmidt was among those with a tackle for loss.
Tyron Herring, Jordan Washington and Vachon Raye had clear pass breakups with Herring having one of two near-interceptions.
“The defensive side, it is slanted to the offense where you’re not tackling,” Teevens said. “That’s an adjustment. But, guys aligned where they needed to be. They ran to the football. We didn’t break up a lot of passes, but we had guys in position to, and we kind of backed off a little bit just so we don’t collide.”
All in all, though, Teevens gave the Green-White a thumb’s up.
“It was a productive day for us,” he said. “We came out safe and healthy. It was a good spring for us.”
Several players were also honored after the game as the most improved players on the team by position:
Defensive Back: Tyson McCloud
Linebacker: Mack Ayers
Defensive Line: Dylan Lacroix
Offensive Line: Kyle Brown
Tight End: Jace Henry
Wide Receiver: Jackson Gerard
Running Back: Tevita Moimoi
Quarterback: Gavin Muir
Specialist: Davis Golick
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