Sylvia boots Hornets

Dramatic field goal lifts Dartmouth to win

SEAN SYLVIALast-second FG

MANSFIELD - Sean Sylvia went from goat to hero with the swing of his sore left leg last night.

With 11 seconds left, Sylvia atoned for an unsportsmanlike penalty on his own touchdown run and kicked a 24-yard field goal to lift second-ranked Dartmouth past No. 10 Mansfield, 9-7.

"We were very fortunate to win this game," said Dartmouth coach Richard White. "We hung in there to the end. I think we stole this one from Mansfield to be honest with you. We had enough in us to finish the job at the end."

Down, 7-0, Sylvia scored on a 12-yard run with 4:35 left in the game, but he spiked the ball in the end zone to earn a 15-yard penalty. Sylvia missed the long extra-point kick.

The Dartmouth defense held and the Indians took over with 2:40 to play.

Dartmouth moved to the 27-yard line with 40 seconds left, then to the 17 with 23 seconds left.

On fourth and 5 from the 17-yard line, Sylvia threw the ball in the vicinity of Georgia-bound tight end Arthur Lynch-Fontaine. Mansfield defenders converged on Lynch-Fontaine and were able to knock the ball down. Thinking that they had won the game, Mansfield fans and players were shocked when the referees called pass interference, which gave Dartmouth an automatic first down and another chance.

With a first and goal at the 2, Sylvia was dragged down for a 5-yard loss by Daniel Glavin with 11 seconds left, forcing Dartmouth to go for the field goal.

Sylvia, who missed last weekend's Hockomock Jamboree with a sore left hamstring, drilled it down the middle.

"I told my coach I wanted this one," said Sylvia, who remembered his miss in last year's Super Bowl loss to Everett. "It's finally good to kick a game-winner. We pulled together and had a lot of heart."

Sylvia was the catalyst for the Indians. He shook would-be tacklers on numerous occasions and ran for a tough 104 yards.

Mansfield got the ball back with six seconds left. The first play resulted in a roughing-the-passer penalty on Dartmouth, but the final pass fell incomplete.

Dartmouth's defense was the difference in the second half, shutting out the Hornets and coming up with a key fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.

In the second quarter, Mansfield recovered a fumble on its 34-yard line and, after three rushes, Jeff Mallett used play-action and found a wide-open Joe Chalifoux down the middle for a 40-yard catch to the Dartmouth 1.

After two unsuccessful running attempts, Mallett pounded it in for a 7-0 lead with 9:31 to play before intermission.

"We gave a very good team one too many chances," said Mansfield coach Mike Redding.