Abuhoff Named Ivy Defensive Player of the Week

HANOVER, N.H. — For the seventh time in his career, Dartmouth senior Shawn Abuhoff (Hialeah, Fla.) has been named one of the Ivy League's Players of the Week for football, earning the honor for his defensive play in a 37-0 shutout victory over Columbia on Saturday. The only Dartmouth player to receive a weekly football award more often than Abuhoff was quarterback Jay Fiedler '94, who was the Offensive Player of the Week seven times and the Rookie of the Week once.

The defensive unit held the Lions to just 148 yards and eight first downs in the game to help the Big Green post its largest margin of victory in 15 years. Abuhoff led the Dartmouth defense, that was on the field less than 21 minutes, with six tackles, five solo, but most importantly forced two key fumbles in the third quarter.

The Big Green began the second half with a 16-0 lead, and on the first play from scrimmage, Abuhoff stripped the Lions' running back of the ball, upon which a teammate pounced. It took just four plays for Dartmouth to capitalize on the turnover with a touchdown for a 23-0 lead. Barely more than a minute later, the cornerback knocked the ball free from another Lion ball carrier, allowing safety Anthony Diblasi to fall on the ball to complete the turnover. Again, the Green needed four offensive plays to reach the end zone and put the game out of reach at 30-0.

This is Abuhoff's first career selection as the Defensive Player of the Week. Earlier this season, Abuhoff was pegged as the Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time in his career, and he was the Rookie of the Week three times in 2008.

Other Big Green players to be chosen as one of the Ivy's Players of the Week were sophomore linebacker Bronson Green on defense (Sept. 19) and senior placekicker Foley Schmidt on special teams (Sept. 26).

Earning honor roll status this week within the league were senior running back Nick Schwieger, who posted his 13th career 100-yard rushing game with 157 yards on 29 carries while tying a personal high with three touchdowns, and Green for becoming the first Dartmouth player in three years to intercept two passes in a game.

Dartmouth (2-4, 1-2 Ivy) travels to one of the league leaders in the standings, Harvard (5-1, 3-0 Ivy) this Saturday for a game at 6 p.m. to be televised by Fox College Sports (FCS) Atlantic. This will be the first night game between the two schools on the gridiron, as the Big Green played their first-ever night game back on Oct. 1 at home against Penn. Dick Lutsk and Wayne Young '72 will bring all the action of the game to life on the airwaves locally on 99Rock, WFRD 99.3 FM and across the globe via the Dartmouth Sports Network on DartmouthSports.com.

Schedules