Dartmouth Pulls One Out
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (Sept. 29 BGA) – Dartmouth’s 16-14 win over Merrimack Saturday afternoon wasn’t anywhere near the kind of tour de force performance the Big Green enjoyed in the season-opener against Fordham a week earlier.
But needing a key stop and then having to drive 62 yards for Owen Zalc’s 32-yard field goal with three seconds left might just prove to be even more valuable heading into the start of Ivy League play against Penn this week.
“It’s going to be important for us, for sure,” said defensive lineman Ejike Adele after the Big Green improved to 2-0. “I think when it’s Ivy play we're going to end up in dogfights like this. Probably – definitely – more than once.
“It's good that we have this experience now so we can move forward, look at the things that we messed up on in key situations, and just keep building on it. But we're extremely happy that we made it happen at the end.”
It happened because both sides of the ball stepped up with the game on the line.
Trailing, 14-10 through three quarters, Dartmouth cut the difference to one midway through the fourth on Zalc’s second of three field goals, this one coming from 50 yards.
When the Warriors (1-4) crossed midfield on the ensuing possession it was Adele teaming up with Josiah Green for the critical eight-yard sack that helped Dartmouth hold and get the ball back with 2:59 remaining.
On a day when he completed less than half of his passes (14-of-29 for 161 yards) Big Green senior quarterback Jackson Proctor was clutch when it mattered most. He triggered the winning march – after a short punt gave Dartmouth the ball at its own 25 – with back-to-back completions of 13 yards to tight end Chris Corbo, and 15 yards to running back Q Jones to push the ball across midfield.
After a four-yard Jones carry it was Proctor finding Paxton Scott, who held on despite a big hit, for a six-yard gain and a first down at the Merrimack 37. When Jones followed with a five-yard run the Big Green was within Zalc’s range
It would get closer thanks to a surprising play call.
On second-and-five, little-used sophomore quarterback Grayson Saunier subbed in for Proctor behind center, took the snap and ran left for 10 yards for a first down at the 22. Two Merrimack times out and short gains by Jones and Proctor later, Zalc trotted onto the field to try for the third game winner of his young career. The All-Ivy League sophomore – who was successful on 17-of-21 tries a year ago – was completely unfazed talking about the winning kick outside the locker room minutes later.
“I've said it in multiple interviews, but I mean, just do the same thing I do every time,” he said. “I’m going to get good protection. I know that the snap's going to be there. The hold’s going to be there. I’ve just got to kick it. I mean, I wish I had a better answer, but if the ball's there, I'm going to kick it.”
For all the drama of the kick, the game wasn’t over.
There were still three minutes left on the clock and although speedy Merrimack wide receiver Donovan Wadley – who had three kickoff returns of at least 90 yards for a touchdown last year – was in street clothes because of an injury the Warriors still had a chance. Awaiting the kick was dynamic 5-foot-8 tailback Jermaine Corbett, who had given Dartmouth fits all game.
Corbett fielded Matisse Weaver’s final kick at the goal line, found a seam up the middle and probably had a few Dartmouth fans nervous that he was going to squirt out the other side of the scrum before being collared at the 33-yard line by Cameron Best-Alston and Zyion Freer-Brown, touching off a huge Big Green celebration.
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Corbett, who rushed for 137 yards on 21 carries and caught three passes for 45 more yards, had helped Merrimack take an early lead on their opening possession of the game. He already had runs of 14 and 12 yards before his slice-and-dice 13-yard touchdown made it 7-0.
“He's just so good,” McCorkle said of the grad transfer from Stonehill. “He's quick. He’s elusive. For a guy his size, he's very hard to tackle, too. He's got great vision. He’s got a good jump cut. He kind of lulls you to sleep a little bit when he gets up in there, and then all of a sudden he bounces it and hits it.”
Dartmouth wasted no time answering the Merrimack score. On the second play of its ensuing drive, Proctor dropped back, ran right and seemed to be about to tuck the ball and head upfield. But spotting deep threat Painter Richards-Baker streaking down the right side beyond the last defenders, he loaded up and hit his senior classmate at the opposite 45. Richards-Baker did the rest, outracing the pursuit for the 75-yard touchdown that tied the score.
"We needed it," McCorkle said of the long TD. "We needed a little jump start there. I just felt like our guys were kind of going through the motion a little bit."
The Big Green took a 10-7 lead into the break thanks in large part to back-to-back Merrimack mistakes.
When a pass breakup forced a Dartmouth punt from near midfield midway through the second quarter, Marc Christian-Georges was flagged for running into punter Davis Golick, giving the Big Green a first down at the plus-43.
One play later Jones was stopped on a short gain only to have the Warriors’ Jabari Nichols whistled for an unsportsmanlike taunting penalty, giving Dartmouth a first down at the 27.
After the drive bogged down at the 14 Zalc came on boot a 31-yard field goal that gave Dartmouth the 10-7 had at the break.
Take away the long TD pass and the Big Green finished the half with just seven yards passing while the running backs had just 22 yards and Corbett by himself had 79 yards on the ground, giving McCorkle a couple of talking points in the locker room.
“Just do your jobs,” he recounted of his message to the team. “Do your jobs. You don't have to do anything extra. Don't get in a one-on-one battle with a guy. Do your responsibility and do your job.”
“And we need more energy. I challenged them. I said they've got more energy than us in the first half. I said they were more aggressive than us in the first half. I said we've got to flip that now.”
Which is what they did.
But only after Merrimack began the second half the way they did the first, driving 72 yards for a touchdown and a 14-10 lead, with Corbett again getting the points, this time on an 11-yard run.
Dartmouth had a chance to cut into the lead midway through the third quarter but Zalc’s 50-yard try missed, setting up the fourth quarter dramatics that provided the Big Green the kind of nail biting win that could pay dividends down the stretch. Even if the score wasn’t impressive against an underrated opponent.
“It's big, you want to win and make a statement,” said McCorkle. “But that's a good football team and I could care less about their record. They are a good football team. I've watched enough football on video and I saw it early in the week. These guys are good, they're very good on defense. They had a good plan on offense.
“We went toe-to toe and you need to have those. You're going to have those games going forward. I think the team that's been in those situations before, the composure of that will show. Our biggest thing is we just got to keep getting better across the board.”
They’ll have that chance Saturday when they host Penn in their Ivy League opener. The Quakers, who dropped a tough 29-22 decision at undefeated Delaware in their opener, rebounded with a 27-17 win over Colgate Saturday.
