Five Players Named to All-Ivy First Team for Football

HANOVER, N.H. — For the first time in 13 years, the Dartmouth football team can boast five players being selected for the All-Ivy First Team, with one of the players earning the honor at two positions. Seniors Charles Bay (Marietta, Ga.) and Tim McManus (St. Paul, Minn.), along with juniors Shawn Abuhoff (Hialeah, Fla.), Ryan O'Neill (Orland Park, Ill.) and Nick Schwieger (Norton, Mass.) were picked by the league's coaches to represent the league on the first team, with Abuhoff becoming the first Big Green player chosen at two positions — defensive back and return specialist. This is the 13th season in which Dartmouth has had players named to the first team at six positions, but the first since 1996.

In addition, juniors Austen Fletcher (Old Brookville, N.Y.) and John Gallagher (Salem, Ore.) were tabbed for the second team, while senior Luke Hussey (Seattle, Wash.), and juniors Michael Reilly (Denver, Colo.) and Foley Schmidt (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) earned honorable mention.

Ivy champion Penn had 20 players selected at 21 positions, leading the league, while Brown had 14 and Harvard 13. Dartmouth tied with Yale for fourth-most honors with each garnering 10 players at 11 positions.

Cornell quarterback Jeff Mathews was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, but the Bushnell Cup, given to the Ivy League Player of the Year, will not be announced until the presentation by the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Football Officials on Dec. 6 at 11:30 a.m. as part of the festivities surrounding the 53rd National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

Abuhoff, a 5-11, 190-pound cornerback, led the Ivy League and ranked seventh in the Football Championships Subdivision (FCS) in passes defended at 1.4 per game, including four interceptions, one of which he returned 56 yards for a touchdown in the season-opening win at Bucknell. He also contributed 45 tackles, assisting on one that went for a loss, plus forced a fumble. As a return man, Abuhoff was third in the nation in punt return average at 17.2 yards per return while bringing back three punts for touchdowns, a figure no FCS player equaled. He also averaged 26.4 yards on 22 kickoff returns, ranking 21st in the country. Last season, Abuhoff earned a spot at cornerback on the second team, plus was a first-team All-New England return specialist.

Bay came on strong at the end of the season after missing most of the first three games with an injury. The defensive end finished the year with an Ivy-leading three forced fumbles and eight sacks, placing fifth among FCS defenders in forced fumbles per game and seventh in sacks per game (1.0). The senior had 33 tackles for the season, 11 going for a loss, and even blocked an extra-point attempt for good measure. Against Cornell, he had three of the Big Green's team-record 10 sacks, then ended the year with a season-high 10 tackles with 1.5 sacks in a 31-0 shutout victory at Princeton.

After missing his junior season with a broken leg, McManus returned as good as ever, catching 38 passes for 528 yards to lead Dartmouth in both categories. He caught at least three passes in every league game, snaring a season-high six for 91 yards against Harvard. Widely recognized by the Ivy coaches as one of the most acrobatic receivers, McManus made numerous one-handed grabs throughout the campaign, and punctuated the season by hauling in the final pass — a 69-yard strike for a touchdown at Princeton. For his career, McManus ranks seventh in receptions (126) and sixth in receiving yards (1,550) on Dartmouth's career lists.

Earning his second straight spot on the All-Ivy first team was Schwieger who enjoyed one of the best seasons ever for a Big Green running back, accumulating 1,133 yards (the second most in school history) on 242 carries to lead the league in rushing for the second straight year and rank fifth nationally at 125.9 yards per game while tying a school record with 14 rushing touchdowns. He also was second on the team with 28 receptions for 210 yards, plus tossed a 62-yard touchdown pass during the season. Six times the tailback posted 100-yard games with a season-high of 216 at Bucknell. He was named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week three times, and led the league in scoring at 9.3 points per game (84 total) and all-purpose yards (158.8 per game), ranking among the top 15 in the country in both statistical categories.

O'Neill, a 6-4, 285-pound left guard, was the anchor of the offensive line that paved the way for Schwieger to accumulate his 1,133 rushing yards. Dartmouth also yielded just seven sacks the entire season, with the per game rate (0.7) ranking seventh nationally. With protection like that, Big Green quarterback Conner Kempe was able to throw for 1,647 yards during the season, the 15th most by a Dartmouth quarterback.

On the second team were Fletcher, the center on the offensive line, and the tight end Gallagher. Fletcher has started 28 of the 30 games during his collegiate career, including the last 26 consecutively, serving as the keystone to the pass protection and run blocking. An All-Ivy honorable mention tight end a year ago, the 6-3, 255-pound Gallagher caught 16 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns (tying for the team lead), and provided adept blocking for the running and passing games.

The honorable mentions were also instrumental to Dartmouth's first winning season in 13 years. Hussey overcame numerous injuries throughout his career to provide 48 tackles, two for a loss with one sack, while intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble from his linebacking position. A wide receiver, Reilly hauled in three touchdowns among his 22 passes for 525 yards for an average of 23.9 yards per catch, the third most in the nation among receivers with at least 500 yards. Schmidt, who garnered his second straight honorable mention, provided seven field goals in 11 attempts this year and converted 33 of his 35 PATs to score 54 points for the Big Green, the sixth most for a kicker ever at Dartmouth.

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