At halftime of yesterday's Green-White Scrimmage Dartmouth revealed its 2023 captains. Quarterback Nick Howard and safety Quinten Arello will reprise their roles as captains this fall as fifth-year seniors. They will be joined by running back Tevita Moimoi and linebacker Macklin Ayers, who will be true seniors in the 2023 season. This graphic played on the scoreboard at the half yesterday:
Sammy McCorkle praised the selection of captains after the scrimmage this way:
“The players did a good job voting. It’s a good mix of two old captains and two new captains, two on offense and two on defense. All four of them were unanimous and they each brings something different. I’m super proud of them.”
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Also at halftime of the scrimmage Dartmouth introduced the winners of the "Most Improved" players in each position group. They were:
Quarterback: Jackson Proctor
Running back: Christian Benson
Wide receiver: Daniel Haughton
Tight end: Chris Corbo
Offensive lineman: Max Wentz
Defensive lineman: Ejike Adele
Linebacker: Braden Mullen
Defensive back: Jamal Cooper
Strength & conditioning: Defensive lineman Joe Onuwabhagbe
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The defense "won" the scrimmage, 29-28, using a scoring system that awarded the offense six points for a touchdown and two points for 20-plus yard “chunk” plays, and the defense six points for a takeaway, three for a sack, two for a pass breakup and one for a “forced” three-and-out. A personal foul would have awarded three points to the other team. (There were none of those. ;-)
The old saying about being "as busy as a one-armed paper hanger," does a pretty good job of describing what it's like for one person trying to keep offensive and defensive statistics for two teams when tackles are determined by an official's whistle and the line of scrimmage can be a little arbitrary. Keeping that in mind, here are some very, very unofficial numbers from yesterday:
With Nick Howard sidelined by illness Dylan Cadwallader completed 26-of-38 attempts for 142 yards, including a five-yard TD throw, and Jackson Proctor hit on 22-of-31 passes for 152 yards. Neither tossed an interception, both showed good feet and had short TD runs.
Among the 17 receivers who caught passes, Daniel Haughton had six grabs for 37 yards, classmate Grayson O’Bara had five for 40 and Joey Richmond added five for 25 yards. Isaac Boston, Painter Richards-Baker and tailback Christian Benson each had four catches.
Benson carried eight times for 21 yards while Q Jones ran seven times for 21 yards and Richmond six for 23.
Linebacker Braden Mullen had eight tackles, defensive back Onye Ouoha seven and safety Sam Koscho three tackles and two pass breakups. Note: All of those defensive numbers probably should be higher but how do you score a gang tackle-by-whistle?
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While the rest of the Dartmouth staff will now hit the road recruiting, acting head coach Sammy McCorkle will remain in Hanover to handle all that running the program in the absence of head coach Buddy Teevens entails.
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EXTRA POINT
Our 1984 VW Vanagon Westfalia poptop camper has been sitting idly alongside our garage since coming out of winter storage.
We've been waiting on our "bus whisperer" up near Burlington, Vt., to have an opening and pencil us in to take care of some nasty screeching and the unfortunate tendency this spring for the engine to cut out. While he's at it he'll give it a good once-over and address any problems he sees or anticipates coming up.
Could we take it to the garage in town? Probably. But when you are not what you would call mechanically inclined, and are driving an unusual vehicle that will soon be 40 years old, you are most confident handing it over to someone whose livelihood centers around these unique things. This picture from the website of the shop where "Wiffle" will be towed tomorrow offers a hint why we use a dedicated VW bus mechanic on the far side of the state:
