Junior quarterback Conner Hempel got Harvard on the board with an early touchdown run. The Crimson football team went on to beat Dartmouth by just three.

After a would-be game-winning field goal hooked wide left last week, the Harvard football team’s fate was determined by backup kicker Andrew Flesher’s right foot once again.

With 6:31 left in regulation, Flesher attempted a 36-yard field goal. In a kick that looked similar to last week’s 50-yard attempt, Flesher’s attempt strayed just left.

But this time, Flesher was given a second chance. With 51 seconds left in the game, Flesher was called up to kick a 23-yard field goal. His kick sailed through the uprights for the third time that day, giving Harvard a 24-21 lead.

“I felt the kick leave my foot, and it just felt good,” Flesher said. “There was no doubt I was going to miss that.”

Dartmouth, with no timeouts remaining, put in quarterback Alex Park, who overthrew his intended receiver with seconds remaining. Senior cornerback Jaron Wilson picked off the pass to seal the victory.

Back in Harvard Stadium for the final game of its three-game homestand, the Crimson (6-1, 3-1 Ivy) held off Dartmouth (3-4, 2-2 Ivy) in a battle of second-place teams, shutting out the Big Green in the final quarter.

“It’s as tough, courageous, and resilient of a team as I’ve ever been around,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “That’s a really good team we beat. We just made one more play than they did, and we’re just happy to get a win.”

The Crimson defense picked off the Big Green’s starting quarterback and defending Ivy League Rookie of the Year Dalyn Williams once and held him to 156 yards passing and no touchdowns, prompting the change at quarterback midway through the fourth quarter.

Playing without starting tight end Cameron Brate, junior quarterback Conner Hempel targeted seven different receivers and ended the day with 135 yards passing.

Early in the third quarter, Hempel threw to freshman running back Bo Ellis. Ellis dropped the sideways pass and didn’t pounce on the ball. Safety Stephen Dazzo capitalized on the freshman’s mistake, scooping up the ball and returning it for 33 yards to give Dartmouth its first lead of the game, 14-13.

“I was just making an alert play,” Dazzo said. “We never give up on a play. If the ball’s on the ground, pick it up and keep moving.”

But the Big Green’s lead was brief—the Crimson took back the lead on the next drive, when high-school-quarterback-turned-collegiate-receiver Ricky Zorn took a reverse handoff and lobbed up a 32-yard ball to fellow senior receiver Andrew Berg at the back of the end zone. A two-point conversion gave Harvard a touchdown lead, 21-14.

“We’d been practicing it all week, and Berg wasn’t really open when I was getting ready to throw the ball,” Zorn said. “I thought I overthrew him, but Berg came up to me before the game and said, ‘If they call that play and I’m double or triple-covered, you have to throw it.’”

On the ensuing kickoff, Dartmouth kick returner Jon Marc Carrier was carted off the field with a concussion. Two plays later, league-leading rusher Dominick Pierre went down with a knee injury.

But Dartmouth was still able to attack.