Brown, with a football eleven of greater strength than shown by the results of its games so far this season, furnished Coach Hawley's men with exactly the sort of opposition for which all Dartmouth men hope in the major home game of the season. The Green prevailed but not without a struggle. The weather was perfect and, although all the seats were not sold, a crowd of nearly 12,000 witnessed the battle.
A hip injury kept Tully on the bench and permitted Sage to start at left end.. Within a few minutes of the opening whistle, this tow- headed junior had kicked three points into the Dartmouth score. The tally came when the Bruins checked a Green drive from midfield on the 10-yard line. The ball shifted back and forth during the remainder of the period, punting being frequently resorted to by both teams. Dooley did most of the booting for Dartmouth and the Green enjoyed an average advantage of better than 10 yards on each exchange of punts during the game.
On the first play of the second period, Captain Bjorkman intercepted a Brown forward on his 35-yard line. From that point the Green drove 65 yards till Hall wiggled over the goal line. Hall and Oberlander alternated in carrying the ball and required only four first downs to make the distance. Sage gave further proof of his utility to the team when he scored the point after touchdown with a second neat dropkick.
The third period was a pretty even matter. Each team missed one good opportunity to score, Brown slipping up when Hall intercepted a pass after a Dartmouth fumble had given the Brunonians the ball on the Dartmouth 30-yard line and Dartmouth failing to register when Dooley was not successful in a drop-kick made necessary when the Providence eleven stiffened its defense on its 30-yard line.
Brown flashed in the fourth period, however, and the game was not Dartmouth's until the referee sent the crowd home. A long forward, some good plunging by Payor, and an offside penalty advanced Brown to the Green five-yard mark. Oberlander restored Dartmouth hearts to a normal rate of palpitation by intercepting the second forward pass which the Bruins attempted and carrying it out to the 20-yard line. The Providence men were determined to score however, and soon forced Robinson to punt. The wind was against him and the ball had height but little distance being downed on the Green's 40-yard line. The fleet Brown backs carried the ball to the 15-yard line but found the road closed beyond that point. Klump dropped back and at a fair angle drop-kicked a beautiful field goal from the 25-yard line. Coach Hawley sent in a number of subs to relieve the wearying linemen and they held the Bear in check for the few minutes that remained until the game ended with the ball in Dartmouth's possession at midfield.
A peculiar feature of the third period which caused considerable newspaper comment for several days following the game was a series of three successive five-yard penalties because Sweetser, playing right guard for Dartmouth, was alleged to be standing improperly on the line of scrimmage. His right hand was on the line of scrimmage, and his left foot was about 18 inches in the rear of the scrimmage line with his left hand on his left knee. The official claimed that this position gave him an unfair advantage in starting on a "guards around" play. Sporting writers generally praised the official for "calling things as he saw them" but felt that such exceedingly strict interpretation of the rules was not for the best interests of the game. Dartmouth was absolved of any intentional violation of either the spirit or the letter of the rules.
The Hanoverians were on the whole, however, far superior to the Rhode Islanders, out- rushing them almost two yards to one, completing a greater percentage of their forward passes, smearing three of the opponent's forwards, and holding a decided advantage in punting. The Green line deserves much credit for checking the Brown backs, Leavitt did his usual excellent work in the secondary defense, and Oberlander and Hall showed to better advantage than ever.
Hall makes an eight yard gain (Brown game)