After a tough mid-season loss to Lafayette two weeks ago, the Crimson crushed another Ivy League opponent on Saturday. Harvard football (5-2, 4-0 Ivy) justified its place at the top of the Ancient Eight with a 42-21 victory over Dartmouth (1-6, 1-3) just a week after trouncing Princeton, 37-3.

The overwhelming power of the Crimson’s offensive line and key performances from the team’s running backs allowed Harvard to double up on the Big Green at Harvard Stadium.

“We take a lot of pride in our abilities up front,” senior center Alex Spisak said of the offensive line. “We know that we will control the offense, [and] we will make the plays.”

Dartmouth struggled to put up a fight against the veteran lines of the home team, and the mismatch of size and age eventually became the Big Green’s downfall.

“A lot of it came down to physical strength,” Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said. “They’re a stronger football team than we were.”

The Crimson was able to make crucial blocks up front to allow junior running back Gino Gordon and freshman running back Treavor Scales to each record over 100 yards on the ground. Saturday’s game marked the first time in a decade that two Harvard players rushed for triple-digit yards in the same contest.

“My success goes completely to the line,” Gordon said. “They open up a whole lot of opportunities as far as running’s concerned.”

Gordon led the Crimson with an average of 14.1 yards per carry, 216 total yards, and three touchdowns.

“It’s a milestone for any back to accomplish that,” said Harvard head coach Tim Murphy. “He’s a real, real tough guy. You see the skills, you see him be very versatile, but at the heart, he’s just a tough guy.”

Scales contributed two more scores and a total of 120 rushing yards, and junior quarterback Collier Winters threw for one touchdown, 204 yards, and no interceptions against the Big Green’s struggling defense.

Harvard’s defense had a much stronger showing, holding Dartmouth to only 262 total yards, compared to the Crimson’s 521.

“Our kids are really, really committed,” Murphy said. “[They did] a good job block destructing, good job [with] gap control, good job tackling. We never let them get their run game off the ground.”

Unlike its opponent, the Crimson got its running game started early on Saturday. After some back-and-forth play and a missed Harvard field goal, Scales recorded the first touchdown on a 40-yard run 12 minutes into the game.

The Crimson’s successful defensive play started early as well. Harvard shut out the Big Green in the first frame, holding it to only two first downs before the end of the quarter.

“I thought our linebackers especially really did a great job of playing great gap control and attacking the line of scrimmage,” Murphy said of the defense. “That gave us an opportunity to gain some momentum in the game.”