Harvard featured some offensive trickery on its ensuing drive. On a first down at the Dartmouth 37-yard line, senior wide receiver Seitu Smith took the end around handoff from his brother, Semar, and found a wide-open sophomore tight end Anthony Firkser down the field for the touchdown. Flesher’s extra point attempt was swatted out of the air for the second blocked kick in as many drives.

It was the Crimson defense that set up the team’s third touchdown of the day when Delisle recovered a fumble deep in Dartmouth territory. Harvard needed just four plays to set up a two-yard Stanton rushing touchdown with a few minutes remaining in the first half.

Dartmouth had two chances to make a significant dent in the Harvard lead midway through the game. A 65-yard drive late in the first half stalled inside the Crimson red zone, and the Big Green was forced to settle for a 30-yard field goal.

The Harvard defense clamped down once again on the next Dartmouth drive. The wheels on the Big Green offense looked to be moving after a 37-yard Williams completion to Bramble down the sideline. But the result was another field goal as Dartmouth failed to get anything going deep in Crimson territory.

Harvard suffered a minor scare when senior quarterback Conner Hempel exited the game after the Crimson’s second touchdown drive with a shoulder injury. Junior quarterback Scott Hosch played the remainder of the first half before Hempel returned midway through the third quarter.

Dartmouth had to deal with quarterback troubles of its own, as Williams exited in the fourth quarter after being poked in the eye. The task of the Crimson defense was made easier with the dynamic passer and rushing threat on the bench.

The latter stages of the game turned into a defensive war of attrition as the rain began to fall at a faster pace. Junior defensive back Jordan Becerra iced the game for the Crimson by picking off an errant pass from backup quarterback Alex Park with two minutes to go.

“It’s just us playing hard-nosed football, leaving it all out on the field,” Hayes said. “We play hard, for each other, and good things seem to happen.”

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at david.steinbach@thecrimson.com.