HANOVER, N.H.—It may not have been the offensive showcase that characterized the victory over Princeton a week ago, but the Harvard football team still had enough to pull out a win against Dartmouth on Saturday.

On a cold and rainy afternoon in Hanover, the Crimson (7-0, 4-0 Ivy) jumped out to an early lead that it would never surrender en route to a 23-12 victory. Finding itself in a one-possession game in the second half, the Harvard defense clamped down and stifled a fledgling Dartmouth (5-2, 3-1) comeback attempt. With the win, the Crimson moved into sole possession of first place in the Ivy League.

Junior running back Paul Stanton finished with a career-high 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns, surpassing his previous mark of 146 yards against the Big Green last year.

Fueled by Stanton’s carries and effective blocking from the offensive line, the Crimson scored touchdowns on three of its first five drives. Although the Harvard offense managed just a field goal in the second half, the Crimson defense surrendered only six points in the final three quarters.

“It was a great team effort,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “Defense, special teams, offense, I thought the guys in the trenches did an especially great job. The defensive line and the offensive line gave us an opportunity to win against a very good football team.”

{shortcode-f37d6c5fc0a5490c4888638299ad8eb1909af110}

While most of the scoring came in the opening two quarters, two of the afternoon’s biggest plays came late in the contest.

Clinging to an eight-point lead, the Crimson offense marched down the field but faced a fourth-and-one in the Dartmouth red zone. Murphy elected to trust senior kicker Andrew Flesher, who had not practiced for much of the week. Flesher calmly converted the 33-yard try to make it a two-possession game with six minutes remaining.

The Harvard defense came up just as big on the next possession. With Dartmouth attempting to climb back into the game, junior defensive back Chris Evans laid a hit on a Big Green receiver to force a fumble that was recovered by captain Norman Hayes. Nearly the entire Crimson sideline stormed onto the field in celebration, while Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens vehemently berated the officials.

“It was ours,” said senior defensive end Zack Hodges. “I saw it from like 20 yards away.”

“What I saw was the guy was on the ground,” Teevens said. “[The officials] obviously saw it a different way.”

The Crimson offense took over after the fumble, and Dartmouth never threatened again. Harvard benefited from turnovers throughout the game, recovering two fumbles and snatching an interception.

The drama of the second half followed an eventful first half that featured a trick touchdown play and two blocked extra points.

Harvard stormed out to an early lead on the first possession of the game with an efficient touchdown drive, taking less than four minutes to move 75 yards down the field. A 17-yard dash from Stanton followed by a reception of the same length moved the Crimson into Dartmouth territory, and the junior capped off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run.

Dartmouth answered the initial Harvard score on its second possession, when junior quarterback Dalyn Williams manufactured a drive that culminated with a two-yard touchdown run. Senior defensive tackle Ryan Delisle maintained the Harvard lead by getting a hand on the extra point—the program’s first blocked PAT since 2010.