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Dartmouth 30, Fordham 13

BRONX, N.Y. — The Dartmouth football team came out of halftime with a quick touchdown, the start of a 24-point second half, as the Big Green defeated Fordham, 30-13 on Saturday afternoon.

Running back D.J. Crowther provided a third-quarter spark, posting 34 rushing yards and 27 receiving yards, including a rushing score. After the Rams pulled within 16-13 early in the fourth, the Big Green erased any doubt by scoring touchdowns with 9:21 and 4:32 remaining, to improve to 4-1 on the season.

“I was really happy with the way we came out after halftime and turned it up,” Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle said. “I thought the defense had some good plays in the first half, but then there were a couple lapses we had and it allowed Fordham to stay in the game. But I thought our guys responded well. They were disappointed in the way they played that first half and held each other accountable.

“They were ready to go out there and step it up in the second half, which I thought they did.”

Grayson O’Bara finished with his third 100-yard receiving game of the season, posting 104 yards on seven catches and a touchdown. Luke Rives added four catches for 43 yards and a tremendous touchdown catch over a defender. Chris Corbo had four receptions for 41 yards.

Grayson Saunier finished 21-of-29 passing through the air for 281 yards and two touchdowns, 180 of those yards coming after halftime. He added 45 yards rushing on eight carries. Crowther finished with 91 yards rushing on 18 carries. Desmin Jackson also had a season-high 44 yards on eight attempts.

“We’ve got to play all four quarters and we’re going to keep fighting,” Crowther said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons on the offensive side of the ball, running the ball. We do a really good job of trusting our offensive linemen, setting up the blocks and putting the ball where it’s supposed to be.”

Zyion Freer-Brown led the defense with eight tackles, one sack and two tackles-for-loss. Harrison Keith tallied a career-high seven tackles. Sean Williams picked up an interception for a second straight week, giving him three for the season.

Dartmouth went 87 yards on its first drive down to the Fordham 2-yard line, but Saunier was stopped just short on a fourth-down run, giving the Rans the ball back.

The game remained scoreless until the second quarter when each team knocked through two field goals. Owen Zalc had field goals of 42 and 33 yards, as the teams went to the locker room tied at six.

Fordham attempted an onside kick to begin the third quarter, but the ball didn’t travel 10 yards, giving the Big Green the ball in prime field position at the Rams’ 42-yard line. Crowther took over on the drive with runs of nine and six yards. Two plays later, he ran it in from 20 yards out, giving the Big Green a 13-6 lead less than two minutes into the second half.

On its ensuing drive, Fordham reached the Dartmouth 17-yard line, but a Williams interception gave the Dartmouth offense the ball back.

“Sean’s big interception there took the momentum away from them a little bit,” McCorkle said. “We started making plays when we needed to.”

The teams traded punts, but Dartmouth tacked on three more points before the third quarter ended, behind a 24-yard field goal from Zalc, giving the Big Green a 16-6 lead with 3:53 left in the third.

The Rams took advantage of a short field after a fumble, going 36 yards in just two plays to pull within 16-13 with 11:37 remaining. Dartmouth immediately answered, going 75 yards on just five plays. The drive included catches of 18 and 19 yards from O’Bara, preceding Saunier finding Rives for 24 yards. The sophomore wide receiver made the catch above a Rams’ defender to give Dartmouth a 23-13 lead with 9:21 on the clock.

The Dartmouth defense sacked Fordham quarterback Gunnar Smith twice on the ensuing drive, forcing another punt. It took the Big Green just five plays to add insurance, with Saunier finding O’Bara on a fourth-down play for 33 yards and a 30-13 lead, which proved to be the final.

For the game, the Big Green held a 461-328 edge in total offense, including 180-90 on the ground and 281-238 through the air.

“We just have to take it day by day,” Williams said. “We can enjoy this right now, but our preparation starts tomorrow [at practice].”

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NOTES: The Big Green won its sixth straight game against Fordham to improve to 6-1 all-time against the Rams. … Grayson O’Bara now has three 100-yard receiving games this season (in five games) and four over his last six games dating back to last season. … O’Bara is the first Big Green player with three games of 100-plus yards receiving since Drew Estrada had three during the 2019 season. … Harrison Keith’s seven tackles marked a career high. … Owen Zalc’s three field goals made and four attempted both tied career highs. His 12 total points (three field goals and three PATs) marked a career high. … Grayson Saunier’s 281 yards passing marked the second most in his career, only behind his 407 at Central Connecticut State. He now has 688 yards passing over the last two nonleague games.

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