From start, there's no stopping Kielt

HANOVER, N.H. - Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore made it clear after yesterday's 44-26 win over Dartmouth that senior Mike Kielt is no reserve tailback.

He won't get any argument from the 7,518 who turned out for the Big Green's homecoming as Kielt ran 18 times for 120 yards and three touchdowns, and caught five passes for 75 yards and a fourth TD to help the Crusaders improve to 3-3.

"We don't view Mike as a backup in a lot of ways," said Gilmore, whose team was without injured starter Terrance Gass. "He's played an awful lot for us over the last four years."

Kielt had touchdown runs of 39, 5, and 8 yards, and a 41-yard catch-and-run for a score as the Crusaders overcame a sluggish first quarter to rack up 531 yards of total offense.

Despite being held to 37 passing yards in the opening quarter, Dominic Randolph went on to complete 33 of 45 attempts for 391 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against the Big Green (0-5).

"Coach came up to me and told me to relax," Randolph said. "I was trying to do too much at the beginning.

"Mike Kielt opened up the run game big time and that helped us to get into the flow offensively. And when you can do both you can't really get stopped."

Dartmouth took the lead when a Randolph interception led to a 37-yard Foley Schmidt field goal midway through the first quarter. The Crusaders came right back with an eight-play, 74-yard drive capped by Kielt's 39-yard jaunt down the right sideline.

After the Big Green tacked on another field goal on the final play of the quarter, Holy Cross again answered right back as Randolph directed a five-play, 63-yard march topped off by his 16-yard pass to Jon Brock. Although Matt Partain saw his school-record streak of 74 extra points ended with a block, the Crusaders had a 13-6 lead.

Holy Cross tacked on a couple more scores on a 5-yard Kielt burst off left tackle and a 29-yard Partain field goal with six seconds remaining in the half to make it 23-6 at the break.

"Once we got into the flow of the game, especially offensively, we started executing better, moving the ball, and getting points on the board," Gilmore said. "And our defense kind of settled down at that point."

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens was impressed by the play of Randolph - whose 13th career 300-yard game tied the Holy Cross record set by Jeff Wiley - and by the Crusaders' offense.

"They spread you out wide and they get the ball out of their hands," Teevens said. "There weren't a lot of down-the-field throws. It was all 5 or 6 yards. We'd mix up pressure but even if they don't block anybody it's hard to get there as quickly as they get the ball out. The thing I'm impressed about with Randolph is he makes great presnap decisions. He knows where the ball is going and it is out of his hands."