RENSSELAER ESCAPES WITH 28-10 WIN

BEHIND BIG FOURTH QUARTER

Oct. 6: The St. Lawrence University football team had No. 23 Rensselaer on the ropes on Saturday afternoon in Troy, NY as the Saints held a slim 10-7 fourth quarter advantage with 14:42 remaining in regulation. However, the Engineers, ranked 2nd in the state, flexed their muscle throughout the fourth quarter, scoring three touchdowns to escape with a Liberty League victory, 28-10.

 

RPI’s win avenged last season’s 42-38 loss to the Saints at Leckonby Stadium, and cut the all-time deficit to St. Lawrence to 29-21-2. Rensselaer remained perfect on the 2007 season, improving to 5-0 (3-0), while the Saints dropped under .500 for the first time this season, falling to 2-3 (1-2).

 

The first half proved to be a defensive battle between the conference foes, despite the quarterback match-up of Jimmy Robertson of RPI, the Liberty League’s top passer, and St. Lawrence’s Brad Heil, who came into the contest as the third ranked quarterback in the league. The Scarlet and Brown allowed only 102 yards on 28 plays in the first half to the Liberty League’s most productive offense, keeping Rensselaer off of the scoreboard throughout the first half.

 

Meanwhile, the visitors were able to take the lead late in the first quarter. After a 26 yard third down completion to senior wide receiver Mike O’Donnell along near sidelines, the Saints again used a successful third down conversion to take a 7-0 lead. Sophomore Connor Hackett took a lofted screen pass from Heil at the 10 yard line, escaped to the outside and found the end zone untouched for his fourth touchdown of the season. Junior kicker Matt Popov added the extra point, and the Saints had a 7-0 lead with 1:55 to play in the first quarter.

 

The Saints defense continued to impress, led by sophomore defensive tackle Gerard Bryant and senior defensive lineman Matt Manchester. The duo held Rensselaer to a field goal attempt despite having the ball first-and-goal at the six yard line. However, Nick Lalumia’s kick sailed wide left, and the Saints nursed their 7-0 lead into halftime.

 

Though St. Lawrence began the second half with the football, they were unable to get a first down and gave Rensselaer the ball with good field position. Robertson and the Engineer offense took advantage, moving the ball 67 yards in 13 plays and evening the score at 7-7. After Robertson got the ball into the red zone, he connected with senior wide receiver Brendan McGowan at the 10 yard line and McGowan did the rest, avoiding a tackler and diving on the pile on for his fifth touchdown of the season.

 

With the score tied entering the fourth, the Saints struck first and reclaimed the lead at 10-7 on a 26 yard field goal by junior Matt Popov a mere 18 seconds into the final quarter. They would get the ball back after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty set Rensselaer back 15 yards, and Heil and the Saints offense took over at their own 10 yard line.

 

After escaping their own end zone, the Saints chose to go to the air, but unfortunately, Heil’s pass to the sideline was under-thrown and intercepted at the 50 yard line by John Tessarow, and the senior took it 48 yards down to the St. Lawrence 2 yard line. The play clearly swung the momentum in the Engineers’ favor, as junior running back Isaac Williams scored on the following play from 2 yards out to give Rensselaer their first lead of the afternoon, 14-10.

 

The Rensselear defense poured on the pressure and didn’t allow St. Lawrence’s potent offense to get any momentum back on their side. Instead, they forced a Popov punt and, on the ensuing drive, took an 11 point lead thanks to a 10 play, 56 yard drive orchestrated by Robertson. With his team again threatening in the red zone, Robertson faked a pitch to the right, and found a wide open Nick Casale in the back of the end zone to give RPI a 20-10 lead. Sophomore Peter Nilson added the extra point, bringing the score to 21-10.

 

Though the Saints were able to pick up a few first downs on the following drive, they were forced to throw the ball due to lack of time. On 3 rd-and-2, Heil’s pass to O’Donnell fell incomplete, bringing up a must-have 4 th down and 2. However, Heil’s bid to sophomore tight end John Quartuccio was deflected at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by RPI’s Stefan Schulz at the St. Lawrence 48 yard line to end the threat.

 

Rensselaer’s Bob Munier would put the final stamp on the victory with 1:32 remaining, rushing for a 30 yard touchdown to complete the scoring and giving RPI a 28-10 win over St. Lawrence.

 

Robertson finished 13-of-29 passing and only 104 yards and one touchdown, while Heil finished 25-of-48 for 205 yards and one score. Hackett carried the ball 11 times for 37 yards, while junior Carl Festa managed 11 attempts and 29 yards. Williams was the leading rusher for the Liberty League’s first place team with 65 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries.

 

The Saints have the bye week and will be in action again on Saturday, October 20th at 1:00pm against Hobart in Geneva, NY.