Adding to a season already replete with devastating injuries and heartbreaking losses, the Dartmouth football team fell to a tough Cornell squad 17-14 Saturday, in the process losing star running back Pete Oberle '96 to a knee injury and watching its hopes of winning an Ivy League title further dwindle.
With the loss, the Big Green drop to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the league, a full two games behind both Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania (3-0 in the league) with only four games remaining in the season.
Also in doubt is whether Oberle, who was hurt in the middle of the first quarter on his second rushing attempt, will be able to return to action this season. Coach John Lyons said Oberle will undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test on Tuesday to determine the extent of the damage.
Lyons said that based on preliminary examinations Oberle could have a sprained ligament or torn cartilage. He will likely be replaced in next week's game against Harvard by either Zack Ellis '98, Ambrose Garcia '97 or Mike Triplett '96.
Oberle's premature exit made matters worse for an already stagnant Dartmouth offense, which was forced to rally from an early 10-0 deficit after the Cornell offense asserted its strength.
Led by senior quarterback Per Larson (9 for 10, 100 yards), the Big Red moved the ball with relative ease against a Dartmouth defense that came into the game ranked sixth in the country in average yards surrendered (77.4 yards/game).
Sophomore tailback Chad Leavitt and freshman running back Terry Smith wreaked havoc on the Big Green's defensive line, compiling over 100 yards in the first half alone. Leavitt (32 rushes, 172 yards for the game) was particularly impressive, averaging more than five yards a carry in the first 30 minutes of play.
The Cornell ground attack broke the game open when, ten minutes into the contest, senior fullback Ned Burke exploded for a 42-yard touchdown run. That play, which came on the heels of a Dartmouth fumble and a Cornell field goal just seconds earlier, made the score 10-0.
The Big Red passing game, by contrast, showed little signs of life early on. The Dartmouth defense hounded Larson, allowing only minimal yardage on several completions in the first quarter.
On the offensive side of the ball, Dartmouth appeared frustrated in the first half. While the air attack met with success (259 total yards), the running game without Oberle accomplished very little.
The other Big Green rushers were constantly swallowed up by the talented Cornell defensive line, usually failing to gain significant yardage and fumbling several times as a result of the opposing line's aggressive play.
"We have to be more consistent," said tight end Damon Jones '95. "We've been playing well, but we've been making mistakes at key times. We need to put a whole game together."
The second and third quarters were marked by tough defense and a scarcity of sustained drives for either team. Other than a pair of missed field goals - one for each team - neither Dartmouth nor Cornell had legitimate scoring opportunities.
The entire landscape of the game changed significantly in the final stanza. Dartmouth's first score came early in the quarter after a 9-play, 75-yard drive, highlighted by a spectacular 50-yard catch by Andre Grant '95 (3 catches, 79 yards). The ensuing 5-yard touchdown pass from Singleton (24 for 30, 259 yards) to wide receiver Brian Merritt '97 closed the gap to 10-7.
Only minutes later, David Shearer '95 (3 catches, 40 yards) made a fantastic grab in the corner of the endzone to put Dartmouth ahead by a score of 14-10. Shearer's heroic catch seemed certain to be the winning play of the game, as it forced Cornell to drive 97 yards in the final minutes of the contest.
The Big Red, though, were up to the challenge as they intently drove the field, both through the air and on the ground, over the next 10 plays.
The final drive, which seemed to catch the Dartmouth defense confused and disorganized, was capped when Aaron Berryman caught a 14-yard touchdown pass with 1:11 to play. Before the play, Berryman, who averaged close to fifty yards a game last year, had been limited to two catches and 10 yards.
The touchdown reception, which made the score 17-14, put Cornell ahead for good. And while the loss was devastating to the Big Green in and of itself, its implications for a prospective Ivy title only made things worse.
"Obviously it's tough for the seniors," Singleton said. "We put in a lot of work. . . but we've got a lot of pride and we'll respond."
After the game, Lyons said he is concerned about the team's future. "It's tough. We have quite a few injured players now, and that will certainly affect the way the team will play in the next few games."
Dartmouth faces the Harvard Crimson Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Memorial Field.
