(In case you see some similarities between the Dartmouth account of yesterday's Green-White game and the expanded story on BGA premium, don't call the plagiarism police. Yesterday was an incredibly busy day for the good people at Dartmouth sports information so I offered to pull something together for them. ;-)
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How did the final spring football session go? That's a tough call.The bottom line from the Green-White is that while drafting teams is probably more fun for the players, it makes it harder to judge than a more traditional ones-vs-ones, twos-vs-twos format. A third-team offensive guard may be lining up alongside a two-year-starting tackle. The secondary can be a patchwork of players who don't regularly see time together. The top quarterback might not be on the same page with a wide receiver who was scout team in the fall. That's all by way of saying the Green-White was a little sloppier than Coach Buddy Teevens might have liked.
A couple of very quick observations. First, Dartmouth really has developed a powerhouse run game. In addition to two-time Ivy League rushing leader Nick Schwieger, the Big Green has a road grader in Dominick Pierre, a name you will be hearing a lot about over the next three years. (Go ahead and write that down.) Greg Patton, the Dartmouth record-holder with 243 yards in one game as a wildcat quarteback, has made the transition to running back and showed how dangerous he can be when he left tread marks on a would-be tackler. And Chris Hardy, listed at 230 pounds but looking a lot bigger, gave notice that he is ready for a breakout senior year in a somewhat different role when he caught a pass out of the backfield and was the last-man standing after two tacklers hit him at the same time.
The other quick observation is that the Big Green has assembled a stable of pretty fierce hitters. Although they were playing against their teammates and friends on a spring morning the hitting looked and sounded like this was a midseason conference game.
Are there questions? Sure, including some big ones. The quarterback play was uneven. The blocking up front was at times disappointing, albeit with two starters out of uniform. The receiving rotation didn't really sort itself out. Whether the next couple of linebackers identified themselves is still to be determined.
But the most important news of the day would be this: No one got hurt.
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The only Ivy League player who went on the final day of the NFL draft was Yale fullback/tight end Shane Bannon, taken by the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh round. He was one of 20 FCS level players chosen.*
It was a longshot but Dartmouth long snapper Shane Peterlin and defensive end Charles Bay were not drafted and if I understand correctly (not that I usually do ;-) they can't be signed until the NFL solves its work issues.*
Peterlin is quoted in in this Arizona Republic story about the Arizona Elite Long Snapping program. Arizona is a hotbed for longsnappers with five in the NFL including Carolina's JJ Jansen, who preceded Peterlin at Brophy Prep.*
Dartmouth football is advertising for a replacement for video coordinator/assistant director of football ops Chris Feller, who wrapped up his responsibilities yesterday. The ad:Football has an opening for a Video Coordinator/Assistant Director of Football Operations. This position oversees the entire video organization and operation for the football program, including videotaping of all practices and games; breakdown of opponents' video; maintaining a video library; inventory and maintenance of video equipment; and all other aspects of video operations (experience with DV Sport preferred). The role will also have significant operations responsibilities which may include team travel, facilities, game day organization, alumni events, etc.
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Brown held its spring game yesterday and John Ryan, younger brother of NFL quarterback Matt Ryan, passed for one TD and ran for the other in a 14-0 game. Kyle Newhall-Caballero, the All-Ivy first team QB two years ago who was injured early last fall, does not appear to have played.*
What can you say about the Dartmouth baseball team? Probably given up for dead by some after a disastrous 0-4 weekend at Yale dropped them two games off the pace a couple of weeks ago, the Big Green clinched a fourth consecutive Red Rolfe Division championship by sweeping Harvard, 4-1 and 6-0 yesterday while Yale was losing three out of four to Brown in the final weekend of the regular season. It will take some work, but the Big Green still has a chance to host the Ivy League Championship Series although it would have to sweep Harvard today on the road and see Princeton lose at least one game at Cornell.Worthy of Ripley's Believe it or Not: Every freshman who has arrived in Hanover since 1996 and played four years of baseball has had the opportunity to play in an Ivy League Championship Series. At the league's northermost school, where until the new stadium opened it wasn't unusual not to play a home game until the final couple of weeks of the season, that's remarkable.
Ripley's II: Dartmouth ran the longest home winning streak in the country to 24 games.
Ripley's III: Dartmouth's home record since the opening of Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park:
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And finally, That Certain Hanover High Graduate was the top freshman finisher and took fifth overall in the 5000 meters in yesterday's meet at Massachusetts in another PR.
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