A last-minute Dartmouth field goal thwarted a Harvard fourth-quarter comeback and gave the Indians a 23-21 victory today. After seeing Harvard roar back from a 20-0 deficit, Dartmouth drove from its own 30 yard line to the Crimson 5 yard mark before the Harvard defense halted the drive. The Dartmouth field goal try was wide, but a Harvard offside penalty gave Indian kicked Pete Donovan another chance. He made it.

After a frustrating first half, coach Yovicsin started experimenting. He alternated his halfbacks and allowed quarterback Ric Zimmerman to open up the attack. Zimmerman began the second half with a pass to Carter Lord at the Crimson 38. Gatto burst eight yards for a first down at the 46, but two Zimmerman passes went awry, and punter Paul Saba got the call.

The Indians moved from their 28 to the 46 yard line, before quarterback Gene Ryzewicz overthrew a wide-open Dave Boyle. Harvard took over, bogged down, and punted in turn.

Halfback Bob Mlakar, a threat all day, took the kick, reversed his field, and scampered inside the Harvard 40. Fellow halfback Steve Luxford and Ryzewicz then snaked through the Crimson defense for two first downs.

From the 3, Ryzewicz called the same rollout option that got Dartmouth a touchdown in the first half. It worked again. Crimson quarterback Bill Cobb blocked the extra point attempt, but at this point Harvard was on the short end of a 20-0 count.

Halfback Ray Hornblower, after dropping the kickoff roared down the sidelines to the Harvard 46. He took the ball again and again, ripping off 10-yard chunks into Dartmouth territory. But on a crucial fourth and two, at the Indian 22, Vic Gatto was smothered and all seemed lost. A botched quick kick, however, got Harvard the ball on Dartmouth's 39.

Zimmerman threw to Lord at the 22, then to Joe Cook at the 15. On another fourth down situation, he hit Gus Crim at the Dartmouth 8. Gatto carried to the 5, and then Hornblower knifed in on a sweep for Harvard's score. Tom Wynne converted and Dartmouth's lead was 20-7 with 13 minutes remaining.

After Harvard's kickoff, the Indians were forced to punt. The Crimson defense poured in, Cobb blocked the kick, and Mike Ananis recovered on the Dartmouth 2.

On the first play, Gatto somersaulted into paydirt and Wynne split the upright. The score was 20-14, and the once-dying Crimson was very much alive.

Before Dartmouth could get going again, Wynne intercepted a deflected pass and Harvard found itself on the Dartmouth 18. That 18 yards belonged to Gatto. He streaked wide, plunged the middle, and finally powered into the end zone backwards from the 1, Wynne coolly stroked the ball between the goal posts, and Harvard--incredibly--led 21-20.

Then Dartmouth began its last drive.

Dartmouth took the opening kick-off at its own 30 and started moving immediately. After three quick first downs, a 24-yard scamper by Green fullback Dave Boyle brought the ball to the Harvard 6, and three more tries moved it to the 1. But an illegal procedure penalty cost Dartmouth five yards, and on fourth down Gerry Marino caught Ryzewicz trying to pass. Harvard took over on its own 15.

Zimmerman immediately got Harvard launched on a drive of its own. A spectacular catch by Will Stargel on a 36-yard wobbly pass from Gatto put the ball on the Dartmouth 22. On the next play, however, Stargel fumbled Zimmerman's handoff, Dartmouth recovered, and the march was over.

The Green then managed a couple of first downs, but with Chiofaro clogging the middle and Cobb moving up fast from the corner, Dartmouth soon had to punt.

An involved Harvard triple lateral play--more characteristic of Dartmouth's offense than Harvard's--was nullified when Stargel moved too far ahead of Zimmerman on the last exchange. The Crimson got the first down anyway on the next play, and the quarter ended with the score still 0-0.

More Fumbling

But Strandemo fumbled a handoff from Zimmerman, and for the second time Dartmouth recovered, this time on the Harvard 22. Ryzewicz hit Bob Mlaker over the middle, and the speedy halfback took the ball down to the Crimson 6. Steve Luxford powered to the 3, and Boyle vaulted one tackler and sprawled into the end zone in the next play. Pete Donovan converted to make the score 7-0, Dartmouth.

Gatto returned the following kickoff to the Harvard 31, but the Crimson failed to get a first down. Then Paul Saba lofted his first punt and Mlakar ran it back to the Green 45. Dartmouth in turn was forced to put, and Harvard took over back on its own 13.

Once again, Zimmerman couldn't move the team and Saba lined a punt to midfield. Ryzewicz then threw to Randy Wallick at the Harvard 35, and the Indians were on the warpath again. Sophomore Bill Koenig suddenly moved in at quarterback and threw to Wallick at the 17. Coach Bob Blackman immediately shuttled Ryzewicz back in again. On fourth and 2 from the Harvard 8, Mlakar picked up the first down by ramming to the 5-yard stripe. Two more tries by Mlakar left the ball with its nose on the goal line, but Dartmouth's fourth illegal procedure of the half set it back to the 6.

Harvard then blocked the pass in the end zone, but an offside penalty nullified the play and also cost the Crimson three precious yards. On the next play, Rycewicz rolled quickly to his right, pumped a couple of times, and slid in for the score. Donovan's conversion made the score 14-0.

Dartmouth tried an on-sides kick after the touchdown and almost got away with it before Bob Brooks won the scrap for the ball. With less than a minute left, Gatto scrambled for a first down at the Dartmouth 43. Zimmerman began to throw, but he missed three times. On the fourth, he was hit while passing and Dartmouth recovered the fumble. Time ran out before the Green could start another threat.

Dartmouth's 14-0 lead, in large measure, was thanks to Harvard's butter-fingers. The Crimson dropped the ball three times in the half, with one fumble costing it a chance for a score, and with another giving Blackman's legions an easy shot at six points.

Dartmouth had been hurt by repeated penalties but Harvard's mistakes were the costlier. More significantly, Dartmouth doubled Harvard's offensive output for the half, in first downs, rushing, and passing.

The victory was Dartmouth's ninth straight and their 11th win in the last 12 games. Dartmouth's last loss was to Harvard in 1966, by a score of 19-14.