Dartmouth's first two opponents of the 2021 season opened play yesterday with very different results.
Valparaiso, which the Big Green will visit in two weeks, lost at NAIA member Indiana Wesleyan. And Sacred Heart, which will help Dartmouth open its home season one week later, got another big effort from Julius Chestnut in a win over Bucknell of the Patriot League.
Indiana Wesleyan 28, Valparaiso 10
IWU, which is in just its third year with a football team, was 1-of-14 on third and fourth down conversions but still won going away. Robert Washington, the Beacons’ standout running back, carried just six times for 15 yards. Valpo now heads to the Fargodome to play perennial national champion North Dakota State before opening its home schedule against Dartmouth.
Sacred Heart 21, Bucknell 0
Julius Chestnut gained 170 yards on 26 carries to top the 100-yard mark for the 10th consecutive game. The Pioneers outgained the Bison, 455 yards to 143, running for a whopping 294 yards. Sacred Heart led just 7-0 at the half before adding solo touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. The Pioneers visit Bryant and then play host to Morgan State before their Sept. 25 date in Hanover.
New Hampshire, Dartmouth's final nonconference opponent, opened Thursday with a 27-21 win at Stony Brook.
Also of interest to longtime followers of Big Green and Ivy League football – Holy Cross won at FBS member Connecticut, 38-28. A traditional Dartmouth opponent, Holy Cross outrushed the Huskies, 226-88, and outgained the host school, 363-262 overall. It's the first FBS win for the Crusaders since they beat Army in 2002.
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Curious about former Dartmouth receiver Drew Estrada's first game at Baylor? The Bears outlasted Texas State, 29-20, but Estrada, the onetime Big Green jack-of-all-trades, did not play as he continues to nurse a nagging injury.
Fellow grad transfer Caylin Parker wasn't among the three running backs listed on the Albany depth chart before yesterday's 28-6 loss at North Dakota State.
Last Thursday Seth Simmer, who had 33 tackles in Samford's spring season, had one stop in a 52-14 blowout win over Tennessee Tech.
TJ Simpson, the fourth member of the 2019 Ivy League champion Big Green doing the grad transfer thing, did not play in Indiana State's 26-21 win over Eastern Illinois last week. The Sycamores were off yesterday.
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My attention after the Dartmouth scrimmage yesterday was in Madison, Wis., and in reading about Penn State's 16-10 win over Wisconsin I found this in a PennLive story:
“Penn State’s struggled to protect (Sean) Clifford early but the offensive line began to settle down as the game went on. The Lions made one change up front, replacing starting left guard Anthony Whigan with Harvard transfer Eric Wilson early. Wilson stayed in the lineup.”
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| TCD '14 snapped this photo on her run. |
EXTRA POINT
That Certain Dartmouth '14 competed in the 40-mile Grand Traverse Mountain Run between Crested Butte and Aspen Colorado yesterday, placing 39th of the 236 runners who finished, second in the 19-29 age group and eighth among women. Her time over the course, which includes 6,900 feet of climbing and tops out at an elevation of 12,346 feet, was 8 hours, 22 minutes and 27 seconds. From the description of the race, which attracts professional runners:
Rugged backcountry conditions and severe weather may be present along any part of the course. Hazards may include but are not limited to - swift creek crossings, rain, hail, snow, lightning, rock fall, and/or strong winds. Course officials cannot monitor or guarantee complete safety throughout the entirety of the course. Participants must be skilled in making their own assessment of conditions, have sufficient gear and knowledge of how to manage potentially life threatening conditions. Racers must proceed at their own risk. Racers Must – Have a high level of physical fitness, backcountry competency, and possess sufficient gear to survive in strenuous to potentially life-threatening conditions.
She said it was fun. Your mileage may vary ;-)
