HANOVER – At the north corner of visiting stands at Memorial Field there is a potato-shaped rock the size of a large microwave. Former coach Buddy Teevens had a friend with a pickup help him place it there surreptitiously back when Dartmouth football was really struggling.
Teevens wanted the rock to be a reminder to his players that if you keep chipping away, no matter how big or how hard something is, it will eventually crack.
It took a while, but Teevens’ old team finally cracked Merrimack Saturday afternoon, running off 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to improve to 2-3 with a come-from-behind 27-21 win. The loss dropped the Warriors to 2-5.
“I challenged them at halftime,” said longtime Teevens assistant Sammy McCorkle. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of, and find out what kind of character we have. The identity we have.
“I thought these guys responded defensively. Our defense made some huge stops, got us some turnovers. And I thought our offense just kept plugging away and made some big, big plays at critical times. We talk about just chipping away. Just keep chipping away, and our guys did a good job of that.”
And they did it with backup quarterback Noah Trigueros at the controls.
With the Big Green trailing, 14-7, midway through the second quarter, starter Grayson Saunier took a ferocious hit that would sideline him for the rest of the afternoon. That brought on Trigueros, whose career stat line to that point was one completion in two attempts in last year’s lopsided win over Columbia.
McCorkle had faith that the little-used junior was ready.
“You have to practice like you are going to be the guy because you never know when that opportunity is going to come,” the coach said. “Noah’s done a phenomenal job in the off-season. He's done a great job in the preseason. He's done it all season. He prepared himself to be ready to be the guy. And he was.”
Although a Dartmouth offense that was held to 98 yards in the first half was still struggling to move the ball on Trigueros' first two series of the third quarter, the defense was stepping up. First, it was No’Koi Maddox picking off UMass transfer quarterback AJ Hairston at the Big Green 26 for Dartmouth’s first interception of the season.
After the offense went three-and-out, the defense got a three-and-out of its own as Joshua Johnson, Chris Chol, and Keoni Perkins held a convention at the quarterback for a nine-yard sack on third-and-four.
Still down by a score with the offense not yet clicking, the Big Green went into its bag of tricks on the first play after Ian Scott fielded the punt at his own 29.
Trigueros took the snap and handed to Myles Craddock running left. Receiver Nick Lemon, split to that side ostensibly to block, instead started right, took a flip from Craddock, and then sped 63 yards down the Merrimack sideline to the eight.
After a couple of runs by Craddock moved the ball to the one, it was Trigueros keeping up the middle to make it 14-14 with the PAT with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
“We needed a spark,” McCorkle said of the call. “We figured this is the time to run it. They were very aggressive. They’re an aggressive defense and they’re going to load the box. They’re going to bring guys.
“We knew if, hey, we can just catch them in a certain defense and we can get the edge on ‘em, we’re going to have a shot and Nick Lemon can fly now.”
Added McCorkle: “It was a great call by Coach (Shane Montgomery). And great blocking on the perimeter, too. That was critical and key.”
After Merrimack regained a 21-14 lead with six seconds left in the third quarter on a seven-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 15-yard run, it was Dartmouth answering, early in the fourth, once again with a big play.
This time it was Trigueros changing the call at the line, hitting James Elliott on the left side, and the wide receiver racing 59 yards to the end zone to make it 21-21.
“It’s something that we talked about on the sideline,” Trigueros said of the call at the line of scrimmage. “If they give us a certain look, we wanted to give them something else. The O-line did a great job of executing, and then James made a play.”
Which is exactly what the Dartmouth defense and special teams did twice each in the next minutes.
Stung by the quick Big Green score, Merrimack was approaching midfield on the ensuing drive, only to see its QB lose the handle on the ball and linebacker Ayo Adeniyi recover for Dartmouth at the visitor's 48.
The Big Green could managed just one first down but that was enough for Owen Zalc to come on and boot a 50-yard field goal make it 24-21.
Then it was the defense’s turn again.
On the first play after the field goal, Steve Simpkins intercepted a pass tipped by Harrison Keith for the Big Green's second pick of the half, the game and the season, giving Dartmouth the ball at the plus 24-yard line. Three plays later, it was Zalc coming on again and drilling a 42-yard field goal.
The Big Green had a six-point lead, but with 7:09 to play, the game wasn’t over. Far from it.
Eight running plays, a short completion, and one pass interference call later, Merrimack was 14 yards from possibly retaking the lead if it could convert a third-and-three with 1:12 remaining.
Because another Merrimack first down wouldn’t leave much time if the Warriors proceeded to score the go-ahead touchdown, McCorkle used a timeout to preserve time and set up his defense.
But instead of going for the first down, Merrimack went for the jugular, and Hairston lobbed a pass at 6-foot-7 tight end AJ Korkosz at the goal line. The 6-1 Maddox timed his leap perfectly and came over the big receiver to force an incompletion.
Now facing a fourth-and-three with 1:08 and two timeouts remaining, the Warriors again went not for a first down, but for the touchdown.
This time it was 6-3 receiver Austin Palmer heading for the back left corner of the end zone. With Jorden Barnes tightly covering him and a heavy rush leaving Hairston no alternative, the quarterback let fly. Palmer was able to catch the ball, but he was well beyond the back of the end zone, ending the threat.
Three Craddock runs and two Merrimack timeouts later, the rock had cracked, and Dartmouth had the win.
“We talked about it this week,” said McCorkle. “You’re either going to be in the storm, you are going to be going into the storm, or you’re going to be coming out of the storm.
“And we were all three of those. Our guys did a good job of just staying steady and resilient. I’m just super proud of these guys. They battled their butts to the end, and they deserve that win.”