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Harvard 31, Dartmouth 10

 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Dartmouth football team outscored No. 12/15 Harvard 10-0 in the third quarter to get back in the game, but the Crimson responded in the fourth quarter to pull away, 31-10 on Saturday at Harvard Stadium.

The Big Green forced two Harvard turnovers, but it wasn’t enough, as the Crimson scored two touchdowns in 1:30 early in the fourth to extend a seven-point margin to 21.

BOX SCORE

With the loss, Dartmouth fell to 5-2 and 2-2 in the Ivy League. Harvard improves to 7-0 and 4-0.

“Obviously not the outcome we wanted,” Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle said. “We put ourselves behind the eight ball early on there. I’m really proud of the way our guys came out in the second half and battled and put ourselves in a position to tie thing up.”

Quarterback Grayson Saunier finished 18-of-32 passing for 200 yards. He also ran for his team-leading ninth touchdown of the season. Ky’Dric Fisher finished with career highs in receptions (5) and yards (51), including a number of key third-down catches. Nick Lemon had four catches for 52 yards while Chris Corbo tallied three for 56.

Defensively, Zyion Freer-Brown tied a career-high 12 tackles for a second straight week. Joshua Johnson posted a career-high eight tackles.

Harvard took the opening kickoff 71 yards in 13 plays, converting three third-downs. Eventually, Jaden Craig found Seamus Gilmartin for 14 yards and the touchdown to put the Crimson ahead 7-0.

That score remained until later in the first half, when Craig found Brady Blackburn for 74 yards down the right sideline to make the score 14-0 with 1:32 on the first-quarter clock.

Midway through the second quarter, Harvard added a field goal, which rounded out the first-half scoring. A Sean Williams interception in the final two minutes did give the Big Green some life. Dartmouth got to the Crimson 19-yard line, but a missed field goal kept the score at 17-0 after 30 minutes of play.

Dartmouth took the opening drive of the second half 75 yards in 12 plays to get on the scoreboard. In the drive were two key third-down conversions — a five-yard catch from Fisher and eight-yard run from Desmin Jackson. Saunier found Corbo for 21 yards down to the one-yard line and two plays later, Saunier punched it in. The extra point pulled the Big Green within 17-7 with 9:32 left in the third.

On Harvard’s ensuing possession, Harrison Keith picked off Jaden Craig to give the ball right back to the Big Green offense. The offense followed 10 plays down to the Crimson 28-yard line, leading to a 46-yard field goal from Owen Zalc to pull the Big Green with one score at 17-10 with 3:45 remaining.

“Take one play at a time,” said McCorkle when asked about the halftime message to the team. “We’re not going to score 17 points on one play. We knew we were getting the ball back to start the second half, so offense, let’s work ourselves down the field and let’s punch the thing into the end zone. Defense, go out there and get a stop and that’s what we did.”

On its next drive, Harvard converted two third downs and a fourth down, leading to an insurance score as the Crimson led 24-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Not long after, Dartmouth’s fourth-and-one attempt from its 34-yard line was stopped by the Harvard defense, and on the first Crimson play, Craig found Gilmartin for 34 yards and a 31-10 lead.

The Big Green’s ensuing drive reached their 44-yard line, but no further, ending in a turnover on downs, as neither team would score the rest of the way.

For the game, Harvard held a 432-261 edge in total yards, including 322-200 through the air and 110-61 on the ground.

“We’ve got to do a better job,” McCorkle said. “We made mistakes at crucial times in the game and that can’t happen. It’s disappointing. But I’ll tell you what, our guys battled. We need to clean this thing, learn from it and move on and get ready for next week.”

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NOTES: The Big Green’s starting safeties Sean Williams and Harrison Keith have combined for seven of  their eight interceptions, with Williams at four and Keith at three picks. … Out of Ky’Dric Fisher’s five catches on Saturday, four went for first downs (three of those four were on third down). … Grayson Saunier has rushed for a touchdown in five of the seven games this season.

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