It’s easy beating Green

HANOVER, N.H. — If patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait, then Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens must be in line for sainthood for his Job-like suffering.

He and his team had waited 100 weeks for a win before hosting Penn at Memorial Field Saturday — and after falling 30-24, they will have to wait at least one more. Meanwhile, the Quakers will roll into their next game confident after winning their conference opener.

From the very first series, Dartmouth (0-3, 0-1 Ivy) showed why it now owns a 15-game losing streak — the second-longest such mark in the nation behind Indiana State (32 games). After Penn (1-2, 1-0 Ivy) forced the Big Green to go three-and-out in their own territory, long snapper Shane Peterlin sent the ball over punter Matthew Kelly’s head. Instead of falling on it, Kelly attempted to kick it away, but Quakers safety Jim McGoldrick blocked the ball and recovered it in the endzone.

“Spotting a team points is not a great way to start,” Teevens said.

Penn was without cornerback Chris Wynn and quarterback Keiffer Garton, who were sidelined with injuries. Garton’s absence, combined with heavy rain and slippery field conditions, forced the Quakers to bascially abandon their passing game.

“We were a little bit limited in what we could do offensively,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said.

Penn’s offense may have been limited in scope but not in success. Against a Dartmouth team that had allowed over 265 rushing yards in each its first two games, the Red and Blue racked up 288 yards on the ground. Freshman Lyle Marsh and junior Bradford Blackmon led the way with career highs of 120 and 70 yards, respectively.

With Penn only up by three after the third quarter, Blackmon took a pitch from quarterback Kyle Olson, found a hole and bounced it outside for a spectacular 55-yard run. The run set up a two-yard Luke DeLuca touchdown that gave Penn a 27-17 lead.

“When you’re getting the blocking that I was, it’s not hard,” Blackmon said. “The holes were there.”

Junior Mike DiMaggio added 35 yards while freshman quarterback Billy Ragone, running out of a wildcat-esque formation, piled on 62 before leaving the game with a broken collarbone in the third.

Down by 10 midway through the fourth, Dartmouth quarterback Alex Jenny attempted to lead his team into the Quakers’ territory. He aired out a pass down the right sideline intended for Niles Murphy, who collided with a Penn defender while the ball sailed into cornerback Jonathan Moore’s hands for an interception.

Teevens and the home fans were livid that pass interference wasn’t called.

“I thought [it was pass interference],” Jenny said.

The pick set up a drive that ended with an Andrew Samson field goal, giving Penn a 30-17 lead with just over a minute left. Jenny completed his second TD pass with five seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late. The Quakers recovered the ensuing onside kick and took a knee to close it out.

Moore also had a career-high eight tackles in leading a stout Penn defense. Bagnoli loaded the box to stop Big Green tailback Nick Schwieger, and it worked: The sophomore had 78 yards on 22 carries after going for over 100 against No. 6 New Hampshire last week. Jenny was also held in check, going 23-for-38 for 204 yards on mostly short passes.

“Because our offense was working so well, it took a lot off our shoulders,” Moore said. “We started off in a zone but were still fresh later so we switched to man.”

Penn has a much-needed break from conference play this week as it hosts Bucknell Saturday. After that, it’ll be all Ivy games. As for Dartmouth, it’s a familiar refrain: Better luck next week.

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