TROY, N.Y. - Sophomore wide receiver Nick Smith caught the first two passes of his career - both touchdowns - and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) defense intercepted four passes, including one returned for a touchdown, as the No. 24 Engineers defeated Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 25-14, in the Transit Trophy Game at East Campus Stadium. RPI improves to 2-0 on the season and 26-12-1 in Transit Trophy Games, including each of the last two seasons and four of the last five. WPI is now 1-1 in 2018.
Playing just the second game of his career, Smith made his first reception with 7:29 left in the first quarter when he came down with a George Marinopolous throw in the end zone, landing on his back just inside the boundary, to give Rensselaer a 13-0 lead. He increased the advantage to 19-0 when he made another leaping catch, this one on the right side of the opposite end zone, with 4:25 left in the second quarter.
WPI answered on its next possession with an 8-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Sean McAllen one-yard touchdown. The big play of the series was a 46-yard completion from Julian Nyland to Nic Rossi that set up the Engineers on the six yard line.
McAllen, a junior running back, struck again in the third quarter to get the visitors to within one score, 19-14, with a two yard run at the 9:14 mark. Senior defensive back Brian Mahan set up the possession with an interception that he returned seven yards to the RPI 10 yard line.
Following two punts by Rensselaer and one by WPI, the visitors gained possession on their own 18 yard line and eventually moved the ball to the 25, but the drive ended when John Sadak intercepted a Nyland throw and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown and a 25-14 lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter. It was the second straight game the Engineers had an INT return for a touchdown after DJ Stefonsky's 89-yard effort in a Week 1 win at Allegheny College.
On WPI's second series after Sadak's pick-six, senior Luke Watanabe gave RPI its third interception when he pulled down a Nyland throw in the end zone to preserve the 11-point advantage. Junior Andres Guisasola ended WPI's final drive with an interception on a third-and-long play with 51 seconds left and the Engineers ran out the clock.
In addition to its four interceptions, the Engineers' defense added a pair of sacks (8 yards lost) and six tackles-for-lost yards (16). Jack Fallon had a team-high 10 tackles, including five unassisted, 0.5 for lost yards (1) and a pass breakup. Jack Hoggard had eight stops with a pass breakup and Watanabe finished with six tackles, along with his interception, a fumble recovery and two pass breakups.
On the other side of the ball, Marinopolous connected on 22 of 41 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns with an interception. Conor Davies, who had a 4-yard touchdown reception to put RPI in front at 9:35 of the first quarter, was his favorite target with six catches for 58 yards. Smith finished with two catches for 14 yards. Nick Cella was the team's top running back with 70 yards on 24 carries.
Nyland led WPI in rushing with 65 yards on 13 carries, while McAllen had 31 yards on 13 attempts. As a team the Engineers managed just 96 yards on 28 attempts. Under center, Nyland was 19 of 42 for 234 yards with Rossi catching seven passes for a game-high 110 yards.
Nick Ostrowski led all tacklers with 12 tackles (3 solo), while Collin Saunders made seven solos stops with two assisted tackles.
WPI is on the road for the third straight game next Saturday when it plays at Becker College at 3pm. RPI heads to Utica College for a non-league contest that begins at noon.
No. 24 RPI Retains Transit Trophy, 25-14 Over WPI
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20180908_9qjp.xml
2018
WPI
14
RPI
25
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPI (1-1) | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| RPI (2-0) | 13 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 25 |
Sep 08, 2018