Dartmouth Overcomes First-Half Deficit But Falls to Navy 29-21

Navy edged Dartmouth on Saturday in a hard-fought game at Ernie Blake Field in Annapolis, MD.

A late try and penalty conversion put the Midshipmen ahead 29-21 for the win. Dartmouth, who had surged back from a 19-0 deficit to take a 21-19 lead at the 10-minute mark, could not penetrate Navy’s defense in the final minutes. 

“Losing is always tough, especially in tight games against great opponents like the U.S. Naval Academy, but this is our preseason for the coming months and from that perspective, we can take a lot of positives from our performance,” Coach Gavin Hickie said. “One big positive is that three Big Green footballers played their first game of rugby, contributed to the team and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. “

Helped by penalties and turnovers, Navy built a quick 19-point lead before debut player and former football team running back Kyle Bramble ’16 darted into the try zone. Bramble was on the receiving end of a high tackle before placing the ball, which ultimately led to a penalty try and a yellow card for Navy in the closing minutes of the first half.

Big Green dominated open play to start the second half, running strong offensive phases and tackling more accurately in defense. Many strong tackles from Captain Jack Braun ’16, Ollie Engelhart ’18, Erik Warnquist ’16, and debut players Will Konstant ’16 and Will McNamara ’16 led to turnovers that the Big Green was able to capitalize on. 

This domination led to a try from Aldredge after receiving an offload from John Abraham ’16 who had sped down the side of the field. A successful conversion made the game 19-14. 

Soon after the restart, the Big Green was camped out at Navy’s goal line running multiple phases successfully before Konstant, with help from McNamara in support, punctured the Navy defensive line and scored a try that tied the game up. A successful conversion a minute later brought the Big Green two points above Navy, leaving the score 21–19 with ten minutes remaining on the clock. 

Unfortunately, these points turned out to be the last for the Big Green as an ambitious, but successful penalty kick and a try from Navy led to a final score of 29 – 21.

“It was a tight game that was very promising on our end especially with 3 guys who had never played a game in their life,” Braun said after the game. “We are looking to get a faster start against Army next weekend and fix up our set piece but besides that it was a great start to the season considering how lopsided the score had been during preseason in the fall.”