Great year to choose the Shoes
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I arrived for the 1 p.m. kickoff about a half-hour early and parked in the J parking lot, just adjacent to the North Lot off of Peoples Avenue. I had talked to a couple of people beforehand from the message board who were going to be attending the game (and the tailgate before), who got me pointed in the right direction.
After picking up my media credential across the street, I came back across to see a white Ford parked sideways at the far end of the lot, and standing next to it was a big guy about 6-3 wearing a red RPI Dutchman Shoes shirt drinking a beer and another guy, Italian, in a maroon dress shirt, wearing headphones.
Going over, I introduced myself to the guy in the red shirt, who ended up being RedTackle from the message boards, (real name: Eric), and the other guy was Frank Rossi, the Union football announcer. I hung out with them for a little while, listening to the pregame broadcast as they talked to RPI and Union players from days gone by and to members of both schools’ alumni.
Looking out from Frank’s post, all you could see was a sea of red, approximately 100 to 150 alumni and their families, ranging anywhere from their mid 20s upwards to 50, all of them wearing the same alumni T-shirt. One played beanbag toss with a child about 3 or 4, and next to that, some former players who had traveled a long distance to come back for the game reconnected after being apart.
After talking to the RPI football alumni president, I was able to make an impromptu appearance on Frank’s pregame show, and if anyone reads this heard it, they’ll know I made the wrong prediction (I took Union to beat RPI), but I hope I did a good job representing D3football.com.
After leaving the lot, I walked back across the street into ‘86 Field. If you’ve never been, it’s an amazing atmosphere that has to be seen to be believed. Campus buildings come right up to three sides of the field, pretty much hiding it from the street. As you walk in, the bleachers and the press box tower over one side of the field, and on the other, people line the balcony of the building, waving signs written on bed-sheet sized canvasses.
I took my seat in the press box between Frank Rossi and Chris Fitzgerald, a reporter with the Troy Record, and watched as the RPI seniors were introduced with their parents or relatives. There were something like 14 or 16 seniors, which is great to see. Division III programs are so much more pure then Division I, where sophomores or juniors can leave school early to jump to the NFL.
All at once, the fanfare ended and RPI kicker Drew Taranto kicked off to start the game.
On Union’s first play from scrimmage, Coach John Audino came out with some trickery using a halfback pass to get behind the defense.
Charles Kaliades threw a 30-yard pass to Ryan Twichell on the first play, and four plays later, All-American running back Tom Arcidiacono scored on a six-yard sweep to put Union up 6-0.
On the ensuing series, RPI utilized the no-huddle offense, capping off a seven-play, two-minute drive with a 14-yard Jimmy Robertson touchdown pass to Eren Savasli. Savasli got behind the defense on a fade route and went up over the Union defender to catch the ball.
The pace slowed down after the first two drives, as Union capped a 16-play drive that took nearly 8 minutes with a 20-yard Ben Rapple field goal to give Union the lead back 9-7.
Taranto kicked a 23-yarder in the second quarter to help RPI retake the lead, 10-9.
After both teams traded turnovers, RPI got the ball back with 2 minutes left in the half and ran the drill to perfection, with Jay Bernando scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run after a 33-yard strike three plays earlier to Jon Branche on 3rd-and-8 got them down to the Union 2-yard line. RPI took a 17-9 lead into the locker room.
Another Union field goal by Ben Rapple shrunk the RPI lead to 17-12 near the end of the third quarter, but the rest of the suspense was still to come.
After a 33-yard return on the ensuing kickoff by Adam LoGiudice, RPI stormed down the field, scoring on a 2-yard touchdown pass to Brendan McGowan to give the Engineers a 24-12 lead 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. McGowan had 13 catches for 109 yards on the day.
The Dutchmen had a chance to score on its next possession but junior linebacker Tom Rayhill intercepted Union quarterback Anthony Marotti in the end zone. After an interception by Union senior linebacker Kevin Flike, the Dutchmen scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Marotti to Steve Anglietta, and the Dutchmen were back within five at 24-19.
RPI got the ball back with 3:49 left and tried to run out the clock, but the Union defense stuffed Bernando on fourth-and-2 with 1:25 to go. But on Union’s second play after the stuff, RPI junior defensive tackle Vince Scicchitano tipped a Marotti pass to himself and made the interception to seal the win for the Engineers.
“What can I say - they (the Engineers) played a good game," Union coach John Audino told the Troy Record. "I really think our turnovers -- especially in the second half -- hurt us. ... We just
did not play a very good game -- we looked frazzled on offense and on defense. It's probably the worst game we've played all year long and I'm sure RPI had something to do with that."
"This is huge," RPI coach Joe King told the Record. "We have a pretty good program ourselves, but for our kids to come up big like this and beat Union just makes our season. They are a very, very good team.”
An unbelievable atmosphere and an unbelievable football game make it reason enough to be a fan of Division III football.
Playoffs? We’re talking about playoffs?
The games have been played, the seeds have been chosen and the matchups are set. In the East, we’ve got ...
No. 1 Wilkes playing No. 8 Washington and Lee
No. 2 Springfield against No. 7 Curry
No. 3 St. John Fisher against No. 6 Union
No. 4 Rowan against No. 5 Hobart
I think the committee could have put Union at 4 and Rowan at 6 and nobody except the NJAC posters on Post Patterns would have complained that the brackets were out of whack.
The only problem with that is that the NCAA tries to avoid, if it all possible, conference teams meeting again in the first round.
I think the committee did a fine job of putting this bracket together except for one thing:
Where’s Cortland??
Cortland finished 9-1 only losing to Rowan 14-7 in overtime after losing their top two quarterbacks. They also beat Ithaca at Cortaca, which I know is non-conference, but it should hold some weight. How can they not be in the tournament?
I feel that Cortland should have been in the NCAAs, but alas, the committee doesn’t agree with me.
Cortland will face off against RPI in the ECAC Northeast Championship at Cortland. RPI played their way in a ECAC berth with their big win over Union for the Dutchman Shoes.
Cortland and RPI have never faced off in both schools’ long football histories, but it should be a great game for everyone involved.
See my playoff predictions, both ECAC and NCAA at the bottom of this column.
As an aside, some people on the message boards have made a big deal about how some schools will or will not play for an ECAC game.
It’s more than just wanting to play or not. Some believe teams won’t play in the ECAC because it;s inferior, or something like that, but it really comes down to cost.
According to the ECAC handbook, it’s based on a pay-as-you-go system.
For NCAA play, teams and schools are reimbursed for their travel and other costs, but in the ECACs, host teams are responsible for the costs of having the game, the officials, and traveling, said Cortland sports information director Fran Elia.
“A school has to weigh the value of a postseason game versus the cost of one,” Elia said.
To use another example, Ithaca, with a 7-3 record, was also eligible for an ECAC bid, but according to Ithaca sports information director Mike Warwick, the Bombers chose not to put its name in the final list for participation in an ECAC game.
“Participating schools incur all of the costs, but it’s not necessarily the reason a school doesn’t participate,” Warwick said, who said it works the same way in any sport. “It can be a factor for some schools, however.”
Great performances
1. Norwich held record-setting quarterback Chris Sharpe to a season-low 55 yards, but Derron Walker ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns in the Pride’s 35-0 shutout.
2. Hobart’s defense got 8 sacks on Rochester quarterback Aaron Molisani. Hobart’s Evan Hoffman was the leader of the defense, making a career-high 14 tackles, scoring two of the eight sacks and forcing a fumble.
3. Cortland kicker Matthew Mintz hit a career-long 40-yard field goal in overtime sending the Red Dragons to a 23-20 win over Ithaca in the Cortaca Jug. Congratulations to Matt, as he’ll be forever remembered in the annals of Cortaca history.
4. Wesley held Morrisville to minus-27 yards rushing.
5. Wesley freshman running back Aaron Jackson ran for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Wolverines 53-14 win over Morrisville.
6. Springfield won their 500th game in school history Saturday against Norwich.
7. St. Lawrence beat WPI 31-7 as the Saints capped off their first winning season in 15 years. They finished 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Liberty League.
8. Brockport routed Buffalo State 48-0 in the Golden Eagles’ biggest shutout since beating Utica 49-0.
9. Newport News beat Division II Chowan 37-0. The Builders scored four straight wins to end the season at 7-3.
Alarm never rings for Pool C sleeper
I said in last week’s column that I thought Rochester could sneak into the tournament as a Pool C from the Liberty League, but after losing 31-21 to Hobart Saturday, they were relegated to an ECAC matchup at Alfred.
They could have made a good case to get in, though. They had two losses in conference, to Hobart and Union and a third to St. John Fisher in this year’s Courage Bowl. All three of those teams made the NCAAs.
Good luck to the Yellowjackets this week against Alfred.
Last week’s predictions
I would rather not even bring it up, but I have no choice.
In my three predictions last week, I didn’t pick a single one right between Cortaca, the Shoes or Rochester-Hobart ... We’ll just forget it even happened.
This week’s predictions
Wilkes vs. Washington and Lee. Wilkes rolls into the second round, 42-10
Springfield vs. Curry. The NEFC stays winless in NCAA play. SC, 40-24
St. John Fisher vs. Union. The closest game of the weekend. Fisher 38-Union 35
Rowan vs. Hobart. If Hobart plays a good overall game, Rowan could fall in the first round.
Hobart 28, Rowan 21
ECAC’s: RPI at Cortland. RPI pays for 9-1 Cortland not making the tournament. Cortland 31, RPI 13. Rochester at Alfred should be a great game too. Alfred 24, Rochester 20.