Add to the growing list of Dartmouth commits who will play their final year of high school football this fall a tight end with an impressive offer sheet that includes FBS schools.
Announcing for Dartmouth is 6-foot-4, 225-pound Braeden Vetter of Williams High School and Burlington, N.C. In addition to Yale, Columbia and Brown, his offer sheet includes Memphis, Miami University, UNC Charlotte, Arkansas State, Liberty, Delaware, Mercer, Austin Peay, Furman, Campbell, The Citadel and Colgate. He's coming off a junior season in which he caught 19 passes for 265 yards and five touchdowns.
#
Since focusing on his Jake's Takes audio substack, we haven't heard much from longtime Roar Lions blogger Jake Novak, but he recently posted a 13-minute discussion of the 2026 Columbia schedule that you may find interesting. Here's a transcript of his comments on the fall's matchup with the Big Green on the northern tip of Manhattan (LINK):
October 24th is Homecoming against Dartmouth, and that game will be at 1.30. Columbia likes to make the Homecoming game start a little bit later so that people have more time to arrive, enjoy the Homecoming festivities under the big tent.
Objectively, Columbia does probably a better job at their Homecoming situation than any other school in the Ivy League. The other schools just sort of expect you to do it yourself. They have better tailgating opportunities anyway. Of course, Columbia doesn't really have much chance to do any kind of tailgating, with that small lot adjacent to the baseball field. So Columbia has got to do it for us. And they do. The way that they put the tent up, the way that they put together all the Homecoming festivities for families and for kids, they do a really great job. So that should be a fun day.
October 24th, 1.30 p.m. kickoff against Dartmouth. And just as a little bit of a teaser, I may be picking Dartmouth to win the Ivy League this year.
So this could be a huge game on a lot of measures.
#
From a story in The Athletic headlined Thoughts on the Vikings’ 45 offensive players ahead of training camp (LINK):
Delby Lemieux, OL: The Dartmouth grad became one of the more interesting prospects at the Senior Bowl. Lemieux has NFL upside but requires sizable development.
#
The HERO Sports countdown to the FCS opener featuring the best players in the country recognized seven Ivy Leaguers among the first 36 players chosen, but none in the next 26. That streak ends with Penn safety Ty Cortes being selected for the number 37. Here's the list of Ivy Leaguers chosen to date (LINK):
96: Yale DT Jaylin Tate
86: Cornell TE Ryder Kurtz
85: Columbia WR Titus Evans
77: Harvard OL Spencer Doan
75: Penn OL Luke Sacchetti
71: Harvard OL Thomas O'Brien
64: Princeton OL Barrett Eddlemon
37: Penn S Ty Cortes
Dartmouth's best chance to have a player named might be No. 24 Harrison Keith, the All-America safety, although there will be running backs with big stats who might edge him out. Kicker Owen Zalc was honored at No. 35 before last season, but he's probably not going to repeat this summer.
#
Given the nature of the sport, it's hard to imagine the Harlem Globetrotters spawning a football equivalent so we'll close today with a look at the baseball equivalent featuring a former Dartmouth pitcher.
Right-hander Clark Gilmore '24 pitched at Notre Dame after collecting his Dartmouth degree and is now making people smile as a member of the Indianapolis Clowns, who play "Banana Ball." The Hartford Courant has a story on the Clowns and Party Animals playing three games in Connecticut this weekend and it centers around Gilmore, a Connecticut native. Find the story HERE, and Gilmore's Dartmouth bio HERE.
The Dartmouth had a Q&A with Gilmore this spring explaining how he came to play with the Clowns HERE.
Earlier this fall a Gilmore trick pitch went viral on the internet. You may have to watch this twice to see how he delivers the ball:
Before heading to the weekly concert last night at the little town south of us, I pulled up a YouTube video of the group that was performing. When we learned their concert would be inside I made sure we left early so we could claim a prime seat . . . in the back row.
