Vailas Accounts for Four TDs in #4 Football's 52-19 Win Over Dartmouth

Saturday, September 27

6 pm

University of New Hampshire

3-1

Dartmouth College

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Dartmouth

New Hampshire

Vailas Accounts for Four TDs in #4 Football's 52-19 Win Over Dartmouth

9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – No. 4 New Hampshire got night football in Cowell Stadium off to a nice start with a 52-19 triumph over Dartmouth College on Saturday in front of 8,753 fans on State of New Hampshire Day.

Senior quarterback Andy Vailas (Bedford, N.H) passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more and seniors Jimmy Owens (West Deptford, N.J.) and R.J. Harris (Odenton, Md.) each scored twice for the Wildcats, who beat the Big Green for the 13^th straight time. The Wildcats are undefeated in their last 20 games against Dartmouth at 18-0-2.

UNH won its third straight game and improved to 3-1 on the season. The Wildcats are 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association and play league newcomer Elon next Saturday on the road.

Vailas replaced the injured Sean Goldrich (West Haven, Conn.) in the starting lineup and rushed eight times for a career-high 112 yards. He and Owens (15 carries, 81 yards) matched career highs with their two scores.

Harris (eight receptions, 113 yards) has had more than 100 receiving yards in each of UNH's four games. He has five touchdown catches this season.

The UNH defense held Dartmouth, which had 391 yards of total offense in a season-opening win over Central Connecticut State last week, to 262 yards. UNH had a well-balanced 531 yards of offense with 267 rushing and 264 passing.

Junior linebacker Akil Anderson (Morristown, N.J.) had nine tackles to lead the Wildcats and senior linebacker Shane McNeely (Whitehall, Pa.) had the only turnover for UNH with an interception.

Defense and special teams helped the Wildcats break the game open in the third quarter.

UNH led 31-16 at the halftime break and scored a pair of touchdowns in just over two minutes midway through the third period to push the lead to 45-16.

The surge started when McNeely intercepted a Dalyn Williams pass. Two plays later, Vailas threw the ball toward Harris in the right side of the end zone and the receiver fought off a defender for the catch and a 29-yard score.

The Wildcat defense held and forced a Dartmouth punt. Mike Kelly (Merrimack, N.H) blocked Ben Kepley's punt and Horace Chalstrom (Annapolis, Md.) picked up the ball and ran nine yards for the score.

The Big Green answered with a 41-yard field goal by Alex Gakenheimer with 4:22 left in the third period to make it 45-19.

Vailas and the offense drove down the field again and he hit Harris with a 2-yard scoring pass with 1:57 left in the third period to end the scoring.

The Wildcats raced to a 17-0 lead in the first six minutes of the game.

Vailas got things started on UNH's fourth offensive play when he took off with the ball and got into the Dartmouth secondary, broke to the right sideline and outran everyone for a 69-yard touchdown, by far UNH's longest play from scrimmage for the season. Harris ran in the conversion and it was 8-0 just 3:12 into the game.

The UNH defense held Dartmouth on three plays and Kepley prepared to punt for Dartmouth. The snap from center sailed over his head and out of the end zone for a safety and 10-0 UNH lead.

The Wildcats got the ball on a free kick after the safety and marched seven plays in 1:45 to an Owens 1-yard TD run and it was 17-0 with 9:08 left in the opening period.

Dartmouth responded with a couple of Williams TD passes to cut the lead to 17-13 with 20 seconds left in the first period.

The teams traded punts early in the second period.

After a short Kepley punt, UNH marched to another Owens TD run, this one from two yards out for a 24-13 lead with 8:00 left in the first half.

The Wildcat defense forced another Dartmouth punt and the offense responded with an eight-play, 79-yard drive to run the lead to 31-13. Vailas had the touchdown with a 2-yard run.

Kirby Shoenthaler took the ensuing kickoff 92 yards down the right sideline to the UNH 2-yard line. The Wildcat defense stiffened and – despite a pass interference call that gave Dartmouth a first down on the UNH 1 – held the Big Green to a 26-yard Alex Gakenheimer field goal that made it 31-16 at the half.

The Wildcats built off that defensive stand and allowed just three points the rest of the night.

XXX

Neither Goldrich nor senior running back Nico Steriti (Toms River, N.J.) dressed for the game. Steriti is out with an ankle sprain and Goldrich with a knee injury. . . . Vailas completed 17 of his 26 passes for 219 yards and the two scores. . . . Williams completed 12 of 23 passes for 108 yards and two scores and ran eight times for 43 yards. . . . UNH junior Christian Breda (Needham, Mass.) was six-for-six on conversion kicks.