Volume LXVVIII, No. 4
October 7, 2017
YALE FOOTBALL NEWS Published by the Yale Football Association
Bulldogs Come Up Short 28-27
Publication authored by Chip Malafronte
For the first 30 minutes on Saturday at Dartmouth, Yale had little trouble solving the Ivy League’s best defense. But the Big Green tightened things up in the second half, limiting the Bulldogs to a field goal while putting together two fourth-quarter scoring drives in a 28-27 victory at Memorial Field in Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth (4-0, 2-0) has shown an uncanny ability to come from behind and win games late. The Big Green’s two previous games were won on the game’s final play. Against Yale, the winning touchdown came with 34 seconds remaining, as Dartmouth came all the way back from a 21-point deficit. “I’ve been in this league for quite some time, and when you get to this level of football, against the upper tier teams, you have to be ready to win until the last play and that’s what I told them all week,” said Joel E. Smilow ’54 Head Coach of Football Tony Reno. “You look at the Ivy League, the parity through all eight teams, you have to be ready to win on the last play. Dartmouth made the play in the end. I give them a lot of credit for making that play.” The Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1), one of the nation’s highest-scoring teams, scored the game’s first three touchdowns and led 24-7 at halftime. Dartmouth’s comeback began on its first offensive series of the second half, which ended when quarterback Jack Heneghan found Drew Hunnicutt for a 30-yard scoring strike to make the score 24-14. Yale responded with a long drive, moving the ball to the Big Green 2, but settled for a 20yard field goal by Alex Galland. The 13-point lead remained intact until late in the fourth quarter, when Dartmouth scored touchdowns on its final two drives. Penalties kept the first drive alive, most notably a roughing the passer call on an incompletion on 4th-and-5 from the Big Green 15. Given new life, Dartmouth went 70 yards
remaining in the half that was returned 47 yards for a touchdown by Dartmouth’s Isiah Swan, a crucial play that resulted in the lone points of the half for the Big Green. “Huge play in the game,” Reno said. “That was a swing of points and momentum. At that point in time it was a 21-0 game and we were moving really well.” Yale’s offense stalled after the third quarter field goal, obtaining only one first down in the four offensive series before Dartmouth took the lead. The Bulldog defense, stuck on the field for extended periods, struggled to contain Heneghan. “We didn’t sustain drives and I would venture to guess that something knocked us off time and we didn’t run the ball as well,” Reno said. “We want to run the football and we want to throw the ball in that game. In the first half, we were efficient, in the second half we were not.”
on the next two plays, a 40-yard completion from Heneghan to Ryder Stone and a 30-yard touchdown pass from Heneghan to Dylan Mellor that made the score 27-21. Yale went three-and-out on its next possession, punting back to Dartmouth, which proceeded to march 69 yards on 13 plays for the decisive touchdown. Twice the Big Green converted fourth down plays, including on 4th-and-5 from the Yale 15 for Hunnicitt’s winning score. “I think that Dartmouth did a nice job executing,” Reno said. “We didn’t get many first downs in the second half. We were on the field the whole second half. Dartmouth did a good job extending drives. We couldn’t make plays on our offensive side of the ball and kept ourselves on the field to give our defense some rest. At the end of the day, it comes down to execution. They executed some plays and we didn’t.” Entering the game, Dartmouth’s defense was the best in the Ivy League, allowing only 15 points per game to the opposition. Yale had 21 by the second quarter, effectively mixing running backs Deshawn Salter and Zane Dudek with timely throws from quarterback Kurt Rawlings, who threw three touchdowns in the half. The first was a 46-yard first-quarter strike to Chris Williams-Lopez, the senior wide receiver who caught a season-high 10 passes for 146 yards. In the second quarter Rawlings hit freshman receiver Melvin Rouse for a 4-yard score to make the score 14-0. Later in the half, Dudek snuck downfield and caught a 22-yard touchdown pass that extended the Bulldogs lead to 21 points. Dartmouth had no answers for Yale’s swarming defense in the first half, garnering little success on the ground or through the air as the Bulldogs were ready for everything thrown their way. But Rawlings threw an interception with 2:23
“You look at the Ivy League, the parity through all eight teams, you have to be ready to win on the last play.” Tony Reno, Joel E. Smilow ‘54 Head Coach of Football