Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2006/04/21/indian_sports.php
Friday, April 21, 2006
Editor’s Note: Indian athletic teams have experienced both the heights of league championships and depths of the Ivy League basement in the quarter century of The Dartmouth Review’s existence. Here we have reprinted a number of articles from our archives detailing the Indians’ most successful seasons.
Baseball, 1987
By Ted Carleton
The seventh inning of the first game was a microcosm of the doubleheader sweep of Harvard (6-5, 3-2) that gave the men’s baseball team the tournament. With a little luck, a little patience, and some great clutch play by the veterans, Dartmouth was able to survive game one of a doubleheader the Indians had to sweep. A split would have given Navy the title based on its sweep of Dartmouth three weeks ago.
Entering the seventh, Dartmouth starter Mike Remlinger had thrown 121 pitches and appeared to be laboring. He had surrendered three runs in the sixth, two of which came on a tremendous triple by Harvard pinch-hitter Tom Kanjoyan.
To complicate things, Remlinger opened the final inning by walking the first two men on nine pitches. Coach Mike Walsh went out to the hill. But it was clear that this was Remlinger’s game to win or lose. No one was in the bullpen.
A fly out moved one of the runners to third, which caused a moment of anxiety because the relay was in the dirt and skipped away from the third baseman, Todd Twachtmann. The first pitch to the next batter, Harvard’s #5 hitter, was also in the dirt, moving the other Crimson base runner to second.
To this point, Remlinger had been clocked at a consistent 83-86 miles per hour. Here, he picked it up a notch. In striking out the next two men to retire the side, Remlinger was not clocked below 88 mph. The JUGS gun had him at 94 mph.
In the bottom of the inning, senior Mark Mithell led off with a first pitch liner past the shortstop and into left field, bringing up Twachtmann. In the third, T had turned a double play with the bases full to preserve a one-run lead. In the fifth, his opposite field double gave the Indians a crucial insurance run. Yet, most only remembered his two-out throwing error the inning before that allowed Harvard to knot the score 5-5. The senior captain wanted to make amends.
In this situation, Harvard expected the safe play, the bunt. But Twachtmann is an excellent contact hitter, so Coach Walsh went for the unexpected, the hit and the run. Mitchell ran on the pitch, the second baseman went to cover, and Twachtmann grounded to the right side. Harvard’s second sacker, Dave O’Connell, tried to change direction, but fell down. Twachtmann was on, and Mitchell stood at third.
After Tom DeMerit was walked intentionally, Mark Johnson stepped in, perfect on the day with a single and two walks. He worked the count to 2-2, then struck out on a curveball in the dirt. Enter Rob Combi.
Combi had been 0-3 on the day, and had not gotten the ball out of the infield. Three ground balls. Then came the fourth, a chopper that bounced just over the pitcher’s outstretched glove. If the pitcher had been able to field it, Harvard probably would have been out of the inning. As it was, the second baseman cut the ball in front of second base and gunned it home. Mitchell’s side beat the throw, and Dartmouth won the first game.
Mike Remlinger went the distance for Dartmouth, alternating between the very good and the nondescript. He walked nine men, three of whom scored.
Football, 1990
By Ken Weissman
The Dartmouth Indians continued their legacy as the Ivy League’s most dominant football team after a 23-6 whipping of Princeton earned the Tribe a share of this year’s Ivy Leage championship. The championship is Dartmouth’s first since 1982, and 14th since the Ivy League was formed, giving them two more championship seasons than Yale and six more than Harvard.
The Indians’ stingy defense, the best in the Ivies, continued to shine against Princeton, as a lone fourth quarter Tiger touchdown was the only thing preventing Dartmouth’s third shutout in its last four games. Princeton’s offense was allowed just 208 total yards.
But for the Indians, it was the offense, not the defense, that commanded the spotlight – Al Rosier ’91 and Shon Page ’90 combined for a mammoth 332 yards on the ground. Rosier ran around, over, and through the Tiger defense for a whopping 186 yards on 33 carries en route to setting the new single-season rushing record for Dartmouth. Page finished the season with 1,087 yards, breaking by 24 yards the record set last year by Dave Clark ’90.
The Indians jumped on the board first, moving the ball 59 yards on 9 plays for the touchdown with 5:52 left in the first quarter. Rosier and Page took turns running the ball to the Princeton five yard line, when Page took an option toss from quarterback Matt “The Bazooka” Brzica ’93 for the score.
Midway through the second quarter, Dartmouth scored on a similar drive, with Rosier and Page alternating the workload and driving the ball to Princeton’s 44. Then Rosier got tired of sharing the glory and took it the rest of the way himself, bolting untouched down the left sideline for the long score. Dennis Durkin ‘93’s extra-point attempt was blocked, keeping the Indians’ lead at 13-0.
Following the subsequent kickoff, Dartmouth squandered an excellent opportunity, as Princeton’s reserve quarterback Chad Roghair fumbled his first snap. Pete Chapmann ’91 recovered the ball at the Tigers’ 36, but the Indians were unable to score.
However, the Tribe’s defense stifled the Tigers on their next possession, and after a Princeton punt, Dartmouth got the ball back on the Tigers’ 28. Three plays later, Page ran for a three yard touchdown, giving the Indians a 20-0 halftime lead.
Priceton foiled Dartmouth’s hopes of a shutout with a 51 yard scoring drive in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Roghair’s passing led the Tigers to Dartmouth’s one yard line, when Erick Hamilton took a handoff and popped into the endzone. The Indians blocked the extra-point attempt, keeping the score 20-6.
Not content with Princeton having the last word, Dartmouth answered on the next drive. Dartmouth covered an onside kick attempt on their 40 yard line and drove to Princeton’s 17, where Durkin booted a 34 yard field goal.
Dartmouth shares this year’s championship with Cornell, which beat Penn, 21-15, to match the Indians’ 6-1 Ivy League record. Dartmouth topped Cornell 11-6 in Ithaca for the Big Red’s only league loss.
After a season-opening home loss to Penn, Indians fans couldn’t help but feel they were going to be in for a long season. But that’s where Matt Brzica ’93, Dartmouth’s multi-action quarterback, came in. “The Bazooka,” the Indians’ pre-season fourth-string signal caller, started the next game against Lehigh and led the Indians to a stunning 33-14 upset of the Engineers. Coach Buddy Teevens revamped the offense to work around Brzica’s aggressive scrambling style, and decided to place Page and Rosier in the backfield at the same time instead of alternating them, and the rest, as they say, is history – the Indians tied the powerful New Hampshire Wildcats and rolled over the rest of the Ivy League to finish at 7-2-1.
Football, 1991
By John McWilliams
The Indians won their first outright Ivy League Championship since 1978 and went undefeated in the Ivy League for the first time since 1970 last week by beating the Princeton Tigers 31-13 at Memorial Field in front of 11,230 spectators. Dartmouth came into the game undefeated in the Ivies (5-0-1) and 6-2-1 overall. Princeton (5-1 Ivy; 8-1 overall) could have won the Ivy Title by beating the Indians, but walked away empty-handed.
The Indians outplayed the Tigers from the opening kickoff. Gregory Hoffmeister ’93 returned the ball for 26 yards to the Dartmouth 39, setting up a drive which resulted in a 42-yard field goal by Dennis Durkin ’93. The first quarter ended without any other scores.
With 10:32 left in the first half, quarterback Jay Fiedler ’94 faked a handoff and ran the ball into the endzone from the 4 yard line to make the score 9-0 Dartmouth. Drukin’s kick increased it to 10. Princeton came back, however. Tiger quarterback, Chad Roghair, completed a 17-yard pass to Michael Lerch in the endzone to narrow the gap 10-6. Jason Scotts made the extra point to bring the Tigers’ total to 7 with only 4:42 left in the half.
The Indians refused to give in, however, and began to play even harder. Taking the ball from their own 33, they marched down the field, trading off Al Rosier ‘91’s rushes and passes to Mike Bobo ’92. On third and goal, Fiedler handed the ball to Neal Martin ’93, who powered through the line, into the endzone from the one. Durkin’s kick made it a 17-7 game as the half ended.
Rosier rushed for 107 yards in the first half, making an outstanding contribution to Dartmouth’s 214 total yards. Princeton managed only 106 yards in the half, not even equaling Rosier’s performance.
After returning Durkin’s kickoff to their own 25, the Tigers marched quickly down the field to the Dartmouth 21 only to fumble and give the Indians the ball, recovered by Tom Morrow ’92. Unable to capitalize on the opportunity, Matt Brzica ’93 punted after three downs.
Princeton could not do anything with the ball either, making only one first down before punting from the Dartmouth 40 out of bounds at the Indians’ 6-yard line. Frustrated, the Indians launched a major attack against the Tigers’ defense. Almost mechanically, they charged down the field, capitalizing on Princeton’s weaknesses. At the Tigers’ 44, Fiedler ran around the end, keeping the ball, all the way to the Princeton 18 and drew a personal foul call, which put the Indians at the Princeton 9-yard line. Fiedler then handed the ball to Russ Torres ’93, who plowed through two tacklers in the end zone, Durkin’s kick made the score 24-7, Dartmouth.
Princeton received the kickoff and fumbled the ball 4 plays later. After Dan Mulligan ’92 recovered the fumble, Dartmouth took the ball to the Princeton 47 before they had to punt. The third quarter ended just as Mike Phillips ’93 pushed Mike Wilson, the Tiger punt receiver, at the Princeton 20.
Seven downs later, Princeton punted the ball, unable to drive it past the hard-hitting Indian defense. Dartmouth then moved the ball to the 48 before Fiedler handed the ball to Bobo, who threw a pass intended for Jerry Gilbert ’92, but was caught by Marvin Williams of Princeton at the 37. Princeton, though far behind, drove the ball downfield to the Dartmouth 20. Roghair then completed a pass to Chris Beiswinger in the Indian end zone for a touchdown. Attempting to narrow Dartmouth’s lead, Tiger coach Steve Tosches told his players to risk a 2-point conversion. The Tigers did just that, but Roghair’s pass, intended for Mike Wilson, fell incomplete.
With less than 10 minutes left in the game and ahead by 11 points, Dartmouth, intent on the win and the championship, sought to extend their lead. The Indians did just that. Starting on the Princeton 45 after an onside kick that rolled out of bounds, Dartmouth launched a rushing attack against the Tigers. The drive culminated with Fiedler handing off to Rosier, who went over the right tackle for a touchdown from the 2-yard line. Durkin’s kick was good and the score rose to 31-13, where it would stay.
When Roghair’s Hail Mary pass fell incomplete in the end zone on the final play of the game, the stadium went wild. Fans rushed onto the field in elation; alumni, students, and the team all joined in singing the alma mater, thrilled with winning the championship, an undefeated season in the Ivies, and a resounding victory over the arrogant Princeton Tigers.
The Tigers, reportedly having brought two cases of champagne up to Hanover in anticipation of a victory, traveled the road back to New Jersey with their mighty tiger tail between their legs. The day belonged to the Indians.
Tailback Al Rosier ended the game with 190 yards on 34 carries and the season with 1,432 yards; an average of 142.1 yards per game—first in the nation in division I-AA. He received the Bushnell Cup, the award for the Ivy League Player of the Year, which Shon Page ’90 won last year, later in the week. Quarterback Jay Fiedler ended the day with 82 yards passing, 1,394 yards on 121 completions out of 219 attempts on the year. Fiedler received the top-sophomore award for the Ivy League, an award that Matt Brzica received last year.
In the game, Dartmouth gained 304 yards rushing to Princeton’s 69; did not fumble; and only had one pass intercepted, making for a spectacular closing to an incredible season.
At the annual football dinner on the day following their spectacular season closer, it was announced that outside linebacker George Neos ’93, injured for the entirety of this season, tailback Gregory Hoffmeister ’93, and linebacker Michael Phillips ’93 will serve as Indian captains for the next year.
Football, 1996
By Christian Bateson
After their 40-0 victory against Columbia two weeks ago, the Indians needed only a victory against Brown to clinch the title-and they did it. The Dartmouth Indians now celebrate their 17th Ivy League title after a defeat of the Brown Bears in Providence last weekend.
The game was a continuous rally between the two teams, with Dartmouth pulling to a 27-24 win in the final minutes of the game. Indian Football remains undefeated 6-0 in the Ivy League, with a 9-0 record overall.
The Indians were first on the scoreboard 7:42 into the first quarter with a touchdown run by Greg Smith ’97 from the 12-yard line. Kicker Dave Regula ’98 made his first of many appearances in this showdown, making the extra point on the play. The Bears returned with a touchdown later in the quarter and a successful field goal, leading the Indians 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Dartmouth came back early in the second quarter, with Smith making a rush from the 5-yard line to score again. Regula’s kick after the touchdown made the score 14-10, with Dartmouth leading again. Regula made a 43-yard field goal later in the quarter, pushing the Indians further ahead.
The Bears fought back throughout the third quarter, scoring a touchdown early, but the extra-point kick went wide, leaving Dartmouth ahead 17-16. The Indians attacked, pushing their way down the field with six consecutive runs by Smith. Quarterback Jon Aljancic ’97 scored from the one-yard line, stretching the Indian lead to 24-16. Brown refused to give in, and successfully scored again. Their successful two-point conversion tied the game at 24, with 2:37 left in the third quarter.
The Indians proved their mettle in the fourth quarter. Brown rallied and attempted a go-ahead field goal. The kick sailed wide, and Dartmouth took possession on the Brown 23-yard line. The Indians pushed on with nine rushes to get the ball onto their own 20. Regula then proceeded to clinch the Ivy title with a successful field goal.
Ivy League title in hand, the Indians travel to Palmer Stadium in Princeton this weekend to wrap up their season. If they beat the Tigers, the 1996 team will be the first in Dartmouth history with a 10-0 record.