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Dartmouth 27, Columbia 24

NEW YORK – After Columbia scored 15 straight points to pull even and had a chance for a go-ahead field goal, the Dartmouth football team responded with a 65-yard drive in just over a minute than ended with a Ryan Bloch career-long 32-yard field goal with four seconds remaining, as the Big Green picked up a much-needed 27-24 Ivy League victory on Saturday.

GAME STATISTICS

In a game full of twists and turns, Dartmouth’s special teams was opportunistic all day, including a blocked punt recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and a fumble recovery on a punt return that led to a touchdown. With the win, the Big Green improve to 2-4 and 1-2 in the Ivy League while Columbia falls to 3-3 and 0-3 in league play.

“I can’t describe it,” said Bloch, who admitted he never had a game-winning field goal like he did on Saturday. “My heart was beating out of my chest, legs shaking, fingers shaking, but I just stayed true to what I do every day at practice. Same thing over and over again, so I just trusted myself.”

The day saw the Lions hold a 342-315 edge in total yards. Dartmouth held a 198-102 edge through the air while Columbia, aided by two big first-half runs, finished with a 240-117 advantage on the ground.

“The thing I’m most happy and pleased with is the guys competed right until the end,” said head coach Buddy Teevens. “They made plays that they had to make.”

A Big Green fumble in the final three minutes was returned by Columbia to the Dartmouth 14. Three running plays and two timeouts later, Alex Felkins lined up for a 29-yard field goal attempt. He had been 3-for-3 on the day, but this time, the kick was wide left to give the Big Green life.

The ensuing drive, which began with 1:11 left in regulation, started with a 28-yard reception by Paxton Scott. Fittingly, the drive ended with a 26-yard reception from Scott to the Columbia 15, setting the stage for Bloch’s kick.

“We all believed in each other,” said quarterback Nick Howard, who was 4-for-4 on the final drive. “We had some adversity at the end of the game and things weren’t looking good, but the defense did what they did; they came out and played. The guys out front gave me a chance. The coaching staff knew how to plan. We knew what we were going to run and we knew what we were expecting to get from them, and then from there, it’s just making plays.”

Scott finished the afternoon with a career-high 104 receiving yards on six receptions. Howard finished 5-of-8 for 77 yards. Dylan Cadwallader, who saw most of the time in the second half, was 8-for-15 with 116 yards and a touchdown.

On the ground, Q Jones had 80 yards on a team-high 15 carries. Defensively, Braden Mullen finished with a team-high 10 tackles, with Joe Heffernan recording nine.

On its first drive of the game, Columbia drove to the Dartmouth 1, but Tyson McCloud recovered a high snap at the 26-yard line. Later in the quarter, a Columbia punt that netted negative one yards gave the Big Green great field position at the Lions’ 32. On the second play of the drive, Cadwallader found Jace Henry to the 10-yard line. Three plays after that, Cadwallader connected with Jonny Barrett for the 6-yard touchdown. After the extra point, Dartmouth led Columbia, 7-0 with 5:25 left in the first quarter.

Columbia’s ensuing drive began with a 62-yard run by Ryan Young, but the Big Green defense didn’t break. Dartmouth held the Lions to only eight yards on the next three plays, leading to 31-yard Felkins field goal. That pulled the Lions within 7-3, with 3:15 on the first-quarter clock.

On the first play of the second quarter, a fumbled Dartmouth snap gave Columbia great field position at the Dartmouth 46. The Lions gained two first downs, but the Dartmouth defense again stood tall, as Felkins knocked through a 34-yard field goal to pull Columbia within 7-6 with 11:27 remaining in the second quarter.

Later in the quarter, Columbia punt returner Bryson Canty grazed a bouncing punt, and Big Green long snapper Josh Greene made the recovery. Eight plays later, after two third-and-one conversions, a trick play saw a pair of wide receivers connect. On an end around, Scott found Jarmone Sutherland in the corner of the end zone for his first-career receiving touchdown (and Scott’s first-career passing score). That gave Dartmouth a 14-6 lead with 4:17 left in the second quarter.

After the teams traded punts, Columbia marched from its own 34 to the Dartmouth 14. Following a holding penalty, the Lions only gained six more yards and went into halftime with Felkins kicking his third field goal of the afternoon, a 36-yarder, to pull within 14-9 at the break.

Dartmouth opened the second half with an 11-play drive, which featured multiple big plays. A Howard 18-yard run got the Big Green into Columbia territory and three plays later, Caldwallader connected with Paxton Scott for 28 yards to the Big Green 6. However, Dartmouth’s drive stalled and Bloch connected on a 22-yard field goal to give the Big Green a 17-9 lead with 9:40 left in the third quarter.

Less than 90 seconds later, Robert Crockett III came in cleanly to block Andrew Donvan’s punt. Tevita Moimoi pounced on the ball in the end zone to give the Big Green a two-score advantage. Bloch’s ensuing extra point gave the Big Green a 24-9 lead.

Columbia responded with a methodical 15-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes, ending with a Ty’son Edwards 1-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion was good to pull the Lions within 24-17 with 1:54 remaining in the third quarter.

With just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Bloch’s 39-yard field goal attempt had plenty of distance, but hit off the upright, giving Columbia some life. The Lions took advantage by marching 78 yards on seven plays, ending with a 14-yard touchdown reception by Luke Painton. The extra point evened the score at 24, setting the stage for what would be a wild final 2:24.

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NOTES : Dartmouth avenged its loss to Columbia last season and improved to 71-20-1 all-time against the Lions. … The last time Dartmouth had a blocked punt, and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown, was Oct. 1, 2021 at Penn. Robert Crockett III had the block, recovery and touchdown for the Big Green … Paxton Scott broke 100 receiving yards for the first time in his career. He didn’t have a receiving touchdown, but did have a passing touchdown. He became the first non-Dartmouth quarterback with a passing TD since Drew Hunnicutt did so on Oct. 20, 2018 – also at Columbia.

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