"I was disappointed with the way it ended it," head coach Buddy Teevens said. "We played hard defensively and did nice things on special teams. They played hard throughout. It was a good win for them."
The score was tied at 28-28 halfway through the fourth quarter, but Brown (5-4, 4-2 Ivy) took the lead, then killed the clock with a touchdown drive of eight plays and 59 yards that ate up 4:10 leaving Dartmouth (5-4, 2-4 Ivy) with only 1:22 to respond.
Things started out well for the Big Green, as a short kick and a personal foul by the Bears gave Dartmouth the ball at their 48-yard line. The hope was short-lived, however, as quarterback Conner Kempe '12 threw an interception on the next play, effectively eliminating the Big Green's chances of coming back.
As Saturday was Senior day, all of the Big Green's seniors were introduced before the kickoff to celebrate their final game at Memorial Field in Dartmouth uniform. A reception honoring the seniors followed the game.
"It's a shame [to send the seniors out that way] because we had an opportunity to win," Teevens said. "We didn't do what we needed to do. The defense was on the field way too often."
Running back Nick Schwieger '12 pushed his season rushing total to over 1,000 yards with a short run in the second quarter, becoming only the fourth Dartmouth running back to do so. He finished with 86 yards on 27 carries and an average of 3.2 yards per carry.
The Bears started the game with an efficient drive, but the Big Green defense stepped up for the second consecutive game and prevented an opening score when freshman Alexander Norocea's 46-yard field goal attempt fell just short of the uprights.
The defense could not hold on the next possession, however, as a bad Big Green punt gave Brown the ball with great field position and senior Alex Prestley caught an 11-yard pass for a touchdown several plays later to go up 7-0.
A Kempe interception on the ensuing drive led to a quick Bears field goal, increasing their lead to 10-0.
Dartmouth had an opportunity to score near the end of the first quarter when Brown botched an on-side kick attempt, giving the Big Green the ball across midfield. Following several long runs by Schwieger, he fittingly took the ball in himself from the five-yard line to cut the deficit to three.
After a fruitless back and forth between the two teams for most of the second quarter, Brown forced its way down the field, grinding out yards on the ground and with short passes, eventually capping its drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Jimmy Saros to make the score 17-7 as the teams headed into the locker room for halftime.
While Dartmouth has been a second half team all season, defensive tackle Eddie Smith '12 said the team does not think about things like that in the locker room.
"It's not really, Oh, here we go again,'" he said. "We just think, OK, it's halftime, lets make our adjustments and do what we need to do.'"
Dartmouth received the kick at the start of the second half and drove steadily down the field until Dominick Pierre '14 broke a 40-yard run, just barely getting taken down at the one-yard line. Schwieger ran it into the endzone two plays later to make the score 17-14.
The Big Green took the lead several minutes later when Schwieger threw a strike to Tanner Scott '11 down the field on a halfback pass for a 62-yard touchdown.
The onslaught continued shortly after when Shawn Abuhoff '11 returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown to push the score to 28-17.
"We were excited," Abuhoff said. "We needed to step on their throats, and we didn't, even though we had the chance to do so."
The Bears responded soon after, notching a field goal and following up with a 30-yard touchdown pass and two point conversions to tie the score at 28-28.
"I think the team will be fine," Smith said. "We're always good at bouncing back. We will be more motivated than ever before going to Princeton. The personality has always been, On to the next one.'"
The Big Green plays its final game of the season this Saturday against Princeton University in Princeton, N.J., at 1:00 p.m. The Big Green must beat the Tigers in order to finish the year with a winning season.
