Lalos and Davis Earn Ivy Player of the Week Honors

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League office announced its football players of the week today, and Dartmouth's Niko Lalos and Connor Davis were selected for the defensive and special teams awards, respectively, for their roles in the 27-10 Big Green victory over Princeton on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. These are the sixth and seventh weekly awards won by Dartmouth players this season, the first for Lalos and second for Davis.

Lalos, a 6-5, 270-pound defensive end from Akron, Ohio, came up with a number of big plays, beginning with his leaping interception in the first quarter that he return 22 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career and the game's first points. Later in the first half, the senior sacked the Princeton quarterback for a 9-yard loss on third down, forcing a punt deep in Tiger territory that set up a drive that led to a field goal shortly before the intermission.

In the fourth quarter, with Princeton desperately needing to put points on the board while facing a 27-10 deficit, Lalos tipped a pass at the line on 3rd-and-2, his second of two pass breakups on the afternoon. He also rushed the Tiger quarterback into throwing the ball away twice during the game with his stout pass rush.

Davis, a 6-1, 185-pound place kicker from Ocala, Florida, provided nine points for the Big Green with three PATs and two field goals. The first field goal for the sophomore came late in the first half from 33 yards out to build up the Dartmouth lead to 17-0. After Princeton got on the board just before halftime to make it a 17-7 game, Davis made sure any momentum built up came to an end by sneaking a 42-yard attempt just inside the right upright and over the crossbar. And with his 3-for-3 effort on extra points, he has converted all 38 this season and 40 in a row dating back to last year, 11 shy of the Big Green record set by 18-year NFL veteran Nick Lowery '78, who was honored on the field during the game.

Earning a spot on the league's honor roll this week was quarterback Jared Gerbino. The senior battled through a nagging injury to lead Dartmouth with 97 rushing yards — a season high for any Big Green player — on 16 carries, two going for touchdowns, including the 21-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to conclude the scoring on the day.

Other weekly winners for the Big Green this year have been senior linebacker Jack Traynor (defense, Oct. 7 and 21) and senior wide receiver Drew Estrada (offense Oct. 14, special teams, Oct. 28), along with Davis' first honor back on Sept. 30.

Dartmouth (8-0, 5-0 Ivy), ranked 11th in the STATS FCS Poll and 12th in the AFCA Coaches Poll announced today, can clinch a share of the Ivy League title this weekend when it hosts Cornell (2-6, 1-4 Ivy) on Saturday at Memorial Field. The Big Green will recognized all members of the team in their senior class prior to kickoff at 1:30 p.m. and would like nothing more than to give them a conference crown as a going-away gift. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Tyler Murray and Matt Goldstein on the call with an audio stream available for free through DartmouthSports.com featuring Brett Franklin and Wayne Young '72 describing the action.

Notes: Lalos also was named the Gold Helmet Award winner yesterday by the New England Football Writers as the top Division I player in the region last week and received honorable mention from STATS for the FCS National Defensive Player of the Week … Dartmouth has won 10 straight games and 20 of its last 21 … a victory over Cornell would not only clinch a share of the league title, but also give Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach his 105th win as the Big Green head coach, breaking the record held by the namesake of his position.

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