McManus, Stone Earn Ivy Player of the Week Honors

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League announced its weekly football award winners today, and Dartmouth had two players earn shared honors — wide receiver Ryan McManus on offense and running back Ryder Stone among the rookies. These are the eighth and ninth weekly awards for Big Green players this season, but the first week in which more than one from Dartmouth was recognized.

McManus, a 5-11, 195-pound senior from Mendota Heights, Minn., picked up his second Offensive Player of the Week honor by sharing it with Harvard running back Paul Stanton. He set career highs with 13 receptions and three touchdowns while amassing 154 yards in the Big Green's 44-21 victory over Brown on Saturday. His first touchdown was from 25 yards out and tied the score at seven in the first quarter, and his second score was a 10-yarder to knot the score again at 14 in the second stanza. Dartmouth entered halftime with a 17-14 advantage, and McManus quickly built that lead to 10 with a four-yard catch in the end zone five plays into the second half.

The three touchdown receptions for McManus are the most by a Big Green receiver since Matt DeLellis hauled in three in a 32-27 win over Yale on Oct. 7, 2001. And his 13 catches are the third most in school history, behind only Damien Roomets' 17 in 2000 against New Hampshire and Scott Wedum's 14 grabbed against Cornell in 2002.

Stone, a 5-11, 205-pound freshman from Calgary, Alberta, shared the Rookie of the Week award with Cornell safety Nick Gesualdi. Prior to the Brown game, Stone had touched the ball a total of four times all season — two rushes for two yards and two kickoff returns for 30 yards. But by halftime, the top three Big Green running backs were all unavailable, so Stone was pressed into duty. The Canadian came through in a big way, rushing 10 times for 114 yards with three touchdown runs of one, four and 63 yards. In addition, he caught a pair of passes for 15 yards and returned a kick 20 more.

The last Dartmouth freshman to run for 100 yards in a game was Dominick Pierre against Sacred Heart during the 2010 season. Stone wasn't the only 100-yard rusher in the game as quarterback Dalyn Williams hit the mark on the nose, giving the Big Green two such performances in one game for the first time since Nate Servis (130) and Rob Mitchelson (105) against Columbia in 2007.

Other Big Green players to be named an Ivy Player of the Week this fall are Williams twice (Offense) for throwing for 380-plus yards against Yale and Cornell, senior kick returner Kirby Schoenthaler (Special Teams) after week two, junior nickelback Frankie Hernandez (Defense) twice for his performances against Penn and Holy Cross and junior linebacker Will McNamara (Defense) after a 27-7 win at Columbia on Oct. 25.

Getting a mention on the Honor Roll this week were Williams, who in addition to his 100 yards rushing on 18 carries threw for 248 yards and completed a career-high 75.8 percent of his passes, and McNamara who brought down a team-high 10 Brown ball carriers and had a key interception at the start of the second half that set up McManus' final touchdown.

Dartmouth (7-2, 5-1 Ivy) plays its season finale this Saturday at Princeton (5-4, 4-2 Ivy) with kickoff set for 1 p.m. A Big Green victory, coupled with a Yale win at Harvard, would give Dartmouth a share of the Ivy League title with both the Bulldogs and the Crimson. Harvard (9-0, 6-0 Ivy) clinched at least a share of the crown last week by defeating Penn, 34-24.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Check with your local provider to find out if you have access to the video stream. Dartmouth fans can listen to Dick Lutsk and Wayne Young calling the action on 99Rock, WFRD 99.3 FM in Hanover and online for free through Big Green Insider on the Ivy League Digital Network.

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