Indian Football Says: Bring It On!

By Christian Bateson | Wednesday, October 23, 1996

The Indians stretched their unbeaten streak to 11 games over the past two weekends as they outscored Fordham and Holy Cross 55-14, sucessfully bringing their season record to 4-0. Dartmouth handily defeated Fordham 20-7, before having its best game of the season against Holy Cross. Both offense and defense
had their way with the Crusaders en route to a 35-7 victory.

The Indians have solved their early season problems — their kicking and passing games — and now look to dismantle Yale this Saturday in the Homecoming game. Kicker Dave Regula '98 had two field goals against the Rams, and has successfully converted 8 straight extra point attempts. Indian QB Jon Aljancic '97 passed for 400 yards on 33 for 50 passing in the two games, threw one TD pass and ran in for four more touchdowns.

Two weekends ago the Indians played Fordham at Memorial Field on a beautiful New England autumn afternoon. The only thing more brilliant than the fall foliage was the Dartmouth rushing attack, which racked up 263 yards on the day. Greg Smith '97 had his usual good performance, gaining 97 yards and scoring a TD, and fullback Pete Oberle '96 picked up 51 yards of his own. Aljancic ran for 67 yards including a touchdown, and passed for 280 more, as he went 20 of 31 passing.

Regula grabbed the early lead for Dartmouth with a 27 yard field goal that put the Indians up 3-0. Smith extended the lead in the second quarter, running the ball in from the one to cap a 13 play drive that went 59 yards. Regula tacked on three more before half, as he successfully booted the ball through the uprights from 32 yards out.

Leading 13-0 at the start of the second half, the Indians looked to their defense to keep Fordham out of the game, and that's just what they did. The Rams only managed 5 rushing yards all day, and were forced to turn to their passing game. Lloyd Lee '98 came up huge yet again as he frustrated Fordham's QB by making two interceptions for the second week in a row.

The Rams managed to find the end zone in the third quarter on a two yard TD pass, and pulled to within 6 points, 13-7. That was as close as they would get, as Dartmouth came right back, driving the length of the field in just four minutes. Aljancic ran the ball in for his 4th TD of the season, and the Indians led 20-7. Then the defense took over, as the defensive line kept constant pressure on Fordham QB Kevin Szocik, while the always stingy secondary covered the Rams' receivers like a blanket. The fourth quarter expired without any more scoring and the Indians were 3-0, eagerly anticipating their next game against Holy Cross.

The Indians played masterfully aginst the Crusaders last week. They scored early and often, controlling the tempo throughout the game. Aljancic had three rushing touchdowns and passed for a fourth, and ran the offense decisively. Aljancic's strong arm and great running ability kept the Holy Cross defenders on their heels all day. Greg Smith racked up 115 yards rushing and scored his 4th touchdown of the season. Smith now has 429 yards in 4 games and is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

The stifling Indian defense kept the Crusaders off their game all afternoon, allowing just one touchdown early in the third quarter. Holy Cross had some success running the ball from time to time, but whenever it looked as if they might establish an offensive rhythm, they were stopped cold and forced to punt or turn over the ball. The Crusaders' lone score came on an 18 yard TD pass at the end of their first drive of the second half. However, when Holy Cross threatened late in the third quarter, Indian safety Matt Dancewicz '97 picked off a pass in the endzone, leading to Dartmouth's fifth touchdown of the day and ending all hope for the Crusaders.

Dartmouth took the lead early in the first quarter, as Smith ran it in from 4 yards out. Later in the first quarter, Aljancic ran in his first TD of the day, and took it in again with 39 seconds left in the half to give the Indians a 21-0 lead going into the intermission. Holy Cross scored to start the second half, 21-7.

The Indians struck back late in the third quarter as Smith exploded for a 62 yard ramble down the right sideline, making it inside the Crusaders' 20 yard line before being brought down at the 18. Will Bergman '97 finished off the drive with a beautiful fingertip catch in the back corner of the endzone, his first TD of the season. Leading 28-7, Dartmouth would put together one more drive, this one for 80 yards, which led to Aljancic's fourth TD of the day and the final score of 35-7.

Indian football fans can look for the streak to continue this weekend as Dartmouth plays its third consecutive home game against Yale. The Bulldogs are 2-2 and beat Bucknell by 2 points last weekend, but this year's Yale team is a mere shell of last year's team — a team which the Indians defeated 22-7 a year ago. The Elis graduated 16 of last year's starters, and were picked to finish last in the Ivy League this year. Dartmouth's offensive line should bruise and batter Yale, and look for the Indian D to stop Yale's offense as effectively as it has all the other teams it has faced this season. Kickoff is 1:00 pm this Saturday at Memorial Field in Hanover.

Indian Football Says: Bring It On!

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