"I think at times we took them for granted, having beaten them last season," Big Green quarterback Conner Kempe '12 said. "The Penn game has been the buzz on campus and I think that it was at the back of everybody's mind."
Sacred Heart (1-2, 0-1 NEC) had revenge on its mind after leaving Hanover with a 21-19 loss when the two teams met last season. In that game, Pioneers kicker Jesper Fredriksson missed a potential game-winning field goal with 44 seconds to play, allowing the Big Green (1-1) to escape with the victory. With a new kicker this year, Sacred Heart made no such mistake, as freshman Chris Rogers booted a 22 yarder with one minute to play, sealing the victory for the hosts on Homecoming weekend.
Head coach Buddy Teevens '79 said he was dissatisfied with his team's performance on Saturday.
"We had too many penalties and didn't make the plays that were available to us when we needed to," Teevens said. "It was inconsistency and a lot of self-inflicted mistakes."
More impressive than the kick itself was the drive that preceded it: a 17-play, 74-yard marathon that began at the Pioneers' 21-yard line with 8:50 to play in the game. Sacred Heart mixed short passes from sophomore quarterback Tim Little with runs from freshman tailback Keshaudas Spence to methodically march down the field and kill the clock. No play on the drive went for more than 12 yards, but Little threw just one incompletion, ensuring that the clock continued to move.
By the time Dartmouth took over, Kempe was faced with a difficult task, needing to drive the Big Green from its own 25-yard line into field goal range with no timeouts and just 55 seconds remaining. Kempe performed admirably on the final possession, connecting twice with wideout Bo Patterson '15 for gains of 26 and 11 yards to reach the Pioneer 26-yard line. Then, with just 13 seconds to play, Kempe hit co-captain Tim McManus '11, who ran out of bounds at the Sacred Heart 14-yard line to set up a potential game-winning 31-yard field goal.
But the play was negated by a holding call, moving the ball back to the 36-yard line and capping an ugly day in which Dartmouth was penalized 10 times for 94 yards.
"Too many penalties and too many mental mistakes," Kempe said. "Nothing was really swinging our way."
The Big Green lined up for a 53-yard field goal which would have been a career-long for kicker Foley Schmidt '12 but senior Paul Graziadei broke to block the kick, sending Dartmouth to its first defeat of the season.
Kempe, who has yet to throw an interception this season, said increased film study has limited his turnovers, but he and Teevans both acknowledged that Kempe must complete more passes in games like this.
"I thought Conner had a stretch yesterday where he really did some good things," Teevens said. "The two-minute drill was really well done. But we'd like to have the completion percentage a bit higher. He continues to work at it, we're just looking for better productivity in the end."
The contest was tight throughout, with the teams alternating touchdowns until Rogers hit the game-winner with a minute to go. After Sacred Heart scored on its opening possession, the Big Green responded later in the quarter to tie the game at seven. Kempe went five-for-six on the drive, hitting Kirby Schoenthaler '15 on a screen pass in the drive's final play, and Schoenthaler proceeded to take into the end zone.
Midway through the second quarter, All-American punt returner and co-captain Shawn Abuhoff '12 proved why he is one of the nation's top special teamers, returning a Sacred Heart punt 90 yards for a touchdown. Facing fourth and 17 from the Dartmouth 35-yard line, the Pioneers offense lined up as if it were going for it. Fortunately, the Big Green had prepared for that situation in practice all week, and when Little attempted a pooch punt, Abuhoff was ready for it.
"They had executed [the play] a number of times, and we were aware of it," Teevens said. "The situation was appropriate, so special teams coach Sam McCorkle made the call, and Shawn was back there."
Abuhoff had to do a lot of running on the play, moving backwards and side-to-side to dodge defenders before racing up the right sideline for the longest return touchdown in school history. Abuhoff's four career punt-return touchdowns are also tied for a program record.
"He probably covered about 150 yards on that play," Kempe said. "It was humid and he was gassed, but he had to go right back on the field on defense."
While the ground game was fairly successful on Saturday, the performance was a far cry from when the team amassed 258 rushing yards in the season-opening win over Colgate. Nick Schwieger '12 tallied 100 yards on 20 carries and Dominick Pierre '14 added a 15-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Spence had a consistent day for Sacred Heart with 129 yards on 28 carries, including two touchdowns.
The Big Green returns to action on Saturday night for the much-anticipated night game against Penn. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Memorial Field.
