Watch Post Game Press Conference
HANOVER, N.H. (September 25, 2010)
– The Sacred Heart Pioneers battled back from a 21-12 fourth
quarter deficit but came up just short of earning the program's
first win against an Ivy League school falling at Dartmouth, 21-19,
Saturday afternoon. Pioneer place kicker Jesper
Fredriksson (Gothenberg, Sweden) lined-up for what
would have been a go ahead 38-yard field goal attempt with just 44
seconds left but saw his kick sail wide left to allow the Big Green
to escape with the victory.
The Pioneers dominated the first half of play on Saturday,
leading 12-7 at the break after piling up 225 yards of offense to
Dartmouth's 100. SHU ran 44 plays in the first half, almost
double that of the Big Green, but were forced to settle for two
early field goals before a late second quarter touchdown gave them
a five-point lead at the break.
The third quarter was all Dartmouth as the Big Green offense
held the ball for 11:50 second and ran 29 plays en route to a pair
of touchdowns on the ground. SHU senior quarterback
Dale
Fink (Swansea, IL) led his team back in the fourth
quarter, orchestrating seven play scoring drive to cut the deficit
to just two and then marched his team into position for the
potential go ahead field goal. The senior signal caller threw
for 286 yards, completing 30-of-41 and a score.
Fink and the Pioneer opened the game on an 18-play jaunt of a
drive that covered 72 yards and ate up 8:47 of clock. The
Pioneers were set up first and goal on the Dartmouth seven yard
line but an illegal block penalty on second and goal stalled the
drive forcing SHU to settle for a Fredriksson 25-yard field
goal.
The Sacred Heart defense forced a three and out and Fink led his
team right down the field on their second drive, this time covering
53 yards in 11 plays. Again, a penalty deep in the red zone
proved costly as SHU was forced to settle for another three.
First and goal on the Dartmouth eight saw freshman Gregory Ibe
(Queens, NY) stopped for no gain but a holding penalty
knocked the Pioneers back to the 18-yard line. The drive
again stalled out resulting in a Fredriksson 33-yard attempt he
knocked through.
The Big Green got their offense kick started midway through the
second quarter as freshman running back Dominic Pierre finished off
a 14-play drive with a three-yard plunge off left tackle for six
and a 7-6 lead with 4:46 to go before the half. Donald
Kephart's ensuing kick-off sailed out of bounds and the Pioneers
took full advantage of the extra penalty yardage and field position
to set up one final score of the half.
Fink completed six passes on a 12-play drive while also
converting three third-down opportunities to lead the Pioneers to a
touchdown just before the break. The big play on the drive
came on third and nine at the Dartmouth 16-yard line as Fink hit
sophomore Rock Tate (Lantana,
FL) on the right sideline down to the Big Green one.
Senior running back Marcel Archer
(Miami, FL) dove in from a yard out with 12 seconds left
in the half to put the Pioneers back up, 12-7. The extra
point attempt was blocked and that score would hold into the locker
rooms.
Dartmouth stormed out of the locker-room in the third quarter
and took control right on their opening drive. Junior
quarterback Connor Kempe led his team on consecutive scoring drives
that ended with touchdown runs to put his team up 21-12.
Kempe finished the quarter's first drive sneaking in from a yard
out with 11:13 on the clock. After a SHU three and out,
Pierre piled in for his second score of the afternoon from seven
yards out, capping a 10-play drive and giving his team a two-score
lead with 5:14 left in the quarter.
Kempe had his team on the move once again on their third drive
of the second half when the SHU defense finally came up with a big
play to swing the momentum. On the drive's 12-play, Kempe
dropped back to pass on third-and-seven but failed to see Pioneer
linebacker Ethan
Ostermeyer (Brooklyn, NY) who picked the junior QB off
on the Pioneer 19-yard line. Despite a stalled drive by the
SHU offense, the Pioneer defensive unit again came up with a big
stand, forcing a three and out to give Fink the ball back with 3:29
left in the game and a chance at a game-winning drive.
The senior signal caller did not disappoint as he took over on
his own 44-yard line and brought the Pioneers into position for the
game winning kick. Fink used his feet to pick up a third and
two, with a three yard rush. After a six-yard rush by Archer got
the ball to the Dartmouth 21-yard line, the Pioneers failed to hit
on a pair of passes and were forced to settle for the 38-yard
attempt. Fredriksson's kick had plenty of leg but sailed wide
left and the Pioneers were forced to settle for their second defeat
by less the five points in the last three weeks (L, 35-31 to Robert
Morris).
SHU finished with more net yards in the loss, racking up 397
yards of offense. Penalties hurt the Pioneers all afternoon
to the tune of 10 for 107 yards. SHU was very good on third
down converting nine of 15 on the day.
Fink completed passes to 10 different receivers led by senior
Mark
Uyeno (Setauket, NY) who hauled in six balls for 68
yards. Sophomore Robert Shepard (Groton, CT)
had an excellent day punting averaging 43.3 yards per kick.
Defensively, freshman Steve
Tellefsen (Weston, FL), making his first career start,
turned in eight solo tackles, one for a loss, and a pair of pass
break-ups.
Sacred Heart returns home for a Northeast Conference match-up
with in-state rival Central Connecticut State next Saturday,
October 2nd. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm on
Campus Field on Sacred Heart's 2010 Homecoming Weekend.
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