Following a narrow yet tough loss to Brown, the DRFC made the long trip down to Annapolis for their last matchup of the season against highly ranked Navy. Whereas Army was caught off guard earlier in the season by The Big Green’s pace, game plan and tenacity, Navy was well aware of how dangerous the men in green can be and prepared accordingly. Faced with multiple injuries in the starting lineup, the DRFC nevertheless came determined to redeem themselves.
It didn’t take long for The Men in Green to put Navy on notice. After a few back-and-forth kicks from kickoff, the ball fell in the hands of the shifty Jasper Green who decided to have a go down the wing and run a beautiful scissor pass with his winger Ulysses Brenzel. This resulted in a not releasing penalty right by the five-meter channel. Without hesitation, skipper Mike Weir signals for goal and slots home the difficult three to put Dartmouth ahead early on.
It was Dartmouth who was caught off guard next, as Navy found some space wide with some uncharacteristic crisp passing. Yet The Big Green managed to stop them just short and proceeded to defend their line, win the ball back, counterattack, win another penalty that sees Mike Weir slot home another three. Navy then struck back after two-offloads down the blind side sees them break through the Dartmouth defense and score a try of their own. Before the half they would find space out wide two more times and score. Dartmouth would not go to half without responding, as a Jasper Green plucks the ball out of Navy’s set piece scrum play and runs it in himself from all the way inside his own 40. Halftime: Dartmouth 11-21 Navy.
The second half saw Dartmouth losing valuable personnel, with playmaker Jaime Chuidian and heavy hitter Quinn Hyneman both being forced out of the game due to injuries; young-stud Abraham Kamara received a red card. Whereas a next up mentality saw Dartmouth stay in it despite losing two of their most valuable players, it was the red card that proved too much to overcome with no real replacement at 9 for Abe Kamara. Navy was able to run up the score for the rest of the second half. Final whistle: Dartmouth 11-43 Navy.