Bloch Chosen as Ivy Special Teams Player of the Week

PRINCETON, N.J. — The Ivy League announced its weekly football award winners today, and Dartmouth senior Ryan Bloch was chosen as the Special Teams Player of the Week. This is the second weekly award for a Big Green player this season and the first for Bloch in his career.

Bloch, a 5-9, 200-pound place kicker from Naples, Florida, scored nine points in Dartmouth's 27-24 road victory at Columbia, including the 32-yard, game-winning field goal with four seconds remaining. It was his second field goal of the game and longest of his career having made just two prior to Saturday's contest. Bloch received a second chance to clinch the game after having his 39-yard attempt with five minutes to go bang off the left upright. The Lions tried to ice him in those final seconds by calling their final two timeouts, but Bloch remained calm and split the uprights right down the middle to lift the Big Green (2-4, 1-2 Ivy) to their first Ivy victory of the year and snap a four-game skid.

"My heart was beating out of my chest, legs shaking, fingers shaking, but I just stayed true to what I do every day at practice," Bloch said following the game. "Same thing over and over again, so I just trusted myself."

That Bloch was even in the position to attempt a game-winning kick for the first time in his life was unlikely. A walk-on who had limited appearances during the 2021 season as a junior, Bloch had left the team last spring and planned on focusing on his academics. But when another kicker went down with an injury during the preseason workouts, Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach, called Bloch to see if he would return, and he rejoined the team about a week before the season began.

Two other Dartmouth players were recognized on the weekly honor roll for their performances in the victory. Junior wide receiver Paxton Scott posted the first 100-yard game of his career with six receptions for 104 yards, plus threw a 6-yard touchdown pass for the Big Green's second touchdown of the day. And sophomore linebacker Braden Mullen, filling in for an injured upperclassman, collected a career-high 10 tackles to lead the Dartmouth defense.

The Big Green return to Memorial Field this Saturday, Oct. 29, for its homecoming game against Harvard (4-2, 2-1 Ivy). Dartmouth has won the past three meetings after the Crimson had beaten the Green in 20 of the previous 21 contests. The game will be televised regionally on NESNPlus and streamed live on ESPN+ with Matt Corsetti and Steve Goldberg on the call at 1:30 p.m. Fans can also tune into the audio broadcast that will feature Wayne Young '72 on the mic through either the official website of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com, or the Dartmouth Sports app.

Notes: Bloch is the 24th Special Teams Player of the Week selection for Dartmouth dating back to the award's inception in 1999 … the last player to earn the award was return man Jamal Cooney last season, while the last kicker to be chosen was Connor Davis in 2019 … the other weekly honoree this year for the Big Green was freshman safety Sean Williams as the Rookie of the Week two weeks ago.

Schedules