In a matchup nearly as old as the Ivy League itself, Dartmouth football will travel to New Haven, Conn., to face the Yale University Bulldogs on Oct. 10. The Big Green are fresh off a nailbiting Homecoming victory over conference rivals University of Pennsylvania, but the Bulldogs are currently 2-1 and coming off a rout of the Merrimack University Warriors. Momentum will most definitely play a factor.
The Bulldogs are led by third year signal-caller Dante Reno, who has been lighting up the scoreboard so far this season. He threw for 454 yards and 5 scores against College of the Holy Cross, as well as 300 yards and 4 scores last week against the Warriors. To say the least, Dartmouth’s secondary may be the deciding factor in this matchup.
Harrison Keith ’27 will lead that charge. The captain defensive back showed out against Penn, notching eight tackles, including one for loss. He is looking forward to ball-hawking a familiar opponent.
“I’ve been playing against Dante since I was in high school — this is probably the fourth time I’ve played him,” Keith said in an interview with The Dartmouth. “He’s a really talented player, he’s been airing it out this year.”
Despite the challenge, Keith is confident that Dartmouth’s defensive scheme will not falter.
“We try to go in each week not letting the offense of another team dictate what we’re going to do,” Keith said. “We’re treating it like every other week.”
A newer face that has burst onto the scene these past few games for the Big Green has been defensive back Johnny Stephens ’29. The second-year corner earned Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording a team-high 13 tackles en route to a stellar defensive showing from the unit as a whole during Dartmouth’s Homecoming matchup.
“It feels great,” Stephens said. “I’m just happy that everything I prepared for in the offseason is finally starting to show itself.”
A statline like that is nearly unheard of for a defensive back, but Stephens knew he would be making a big impact from a tackling standpoint leading up to the Homecoming matchup.
“I knew just from watching film that they would try to execute some short throws and maybe run the ball a lot, so I told myself I would try to get at least 10 tackles as a goal,” Stephens said. “In walkthroughs they put me in the right spots, and that was something that translated into the game pretty well.”
Turning to the other side of the ball, Dartmouth has established a strong run game early in the season that will no doubt determine how well they move the ball against the Bulldogs. Myles Craddock ’29 has become a focal point, running for 140 yards against Monmouth University two weeks ago and finding the end zone in every game thus far. Yale has yielded an average of 138 yards per game on the ground to opponents in three games, so look for a trench-heavy offensive strategy from the Big Green.
It would be insufficient to not mention last year’s matchup between these two teams. Dartmouth beat the Bulldogs 17-16 on a last-second field goal from Owen Zalc ’27 in another Homecoming thriller. The Big Green scored all 17 of those points in the fourth quarter, and a particularly stifling performance from the secondary cleared the path for victory.
Ultimately, this is shaping up to be a gritty, hard-fought game for both sides of the ball. Yale’s offense has looked impeccable to start the year, with no shortage of explosive plays and consistent schemes that keep the ball moving. The Big Green defense, however, will show up to play with tenacity. Defensive coach Jordan Belfiori emphasizes the team’s ability to battle through challenges and never let themselves be defeated.
“Our guys always fight through adversity,” Belfiori said. “They’re very calm, composed and mature in that aspect. They play hard.”
All of those qualities will certainly come in handy come kickoff time, with the game beginning at 12 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Yale Bowl. Look forward to an exciting matchup.
