TROY, N.Y. - Senior Conor Davies scored a pair of touchdowns and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) defense held St. Lawrence University (SLU) to only 19 yards rushing as the Engineers defeated the Saints, 27-20, to clinch the Liberty League title and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Playoffs. No. 14/15 Rensselaer improves to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference and returns to the national tournament for the second straight season. The Saints fall to 2-7 and 1-3.
A wide receiver, Davies caught a team-best six passes for 67 yards, including a 13-yard TD, and rushed six times for 53 yards and a three-yard touchdown – all out of the Wildcat – while spelling quarterback George Marinopolous. A sophomore, Marinopoulos threw for 386 yards and two touchdowns with passing plays of 71, 65 and 64 yards – to three different receivers. He finished 17 of 30 with an interception, along with his career-best in yards.
Freshman Peter Lombardi had two catches for 93 yards, sophomore Vinnie McDonald caught two passes for 82 yards and senior running back Nick Cellacaught three passes for 78 yards. Cella also ran a game-best 18 times for a game-high 60 yards.
Defensively, junior linebacker John Sadak paced a balanced attack with nine tackles, including four unassisted and 0.5 for lost yards (1), along with two pass breakups. Jack Hoggard had eight stops (6 solos) with two pass breakups and Andres Guisasola made seven tackles (1 solo) with a PBU. RPI finished with 10 pass breakups and four sacks, including two from sophomore Amaechi Konkwo.
St. Lawrence gave the Engineers numerous opportunities for pass breakups, interceptions and sacks as it threw the ball 76 times. Freshman Tyler Grochot completed 36 of 71 attempts for 412 yards and three touchdowns, while sophomore Aaron Ruthman was 2 of 5 for 25 yards. Sophomore Anthony Ferraro had 16 receptions for 182 yards and Sean McCormack grabbed nine balls for 102 yards. They both had touchdowns for the Saints, who broke six program records in the game. St. Lawrence ran the ball just 14 times for 19 yards with a long of six yards.
Freshman Kyle Frimel had nine tackles (5 solo), an interception and a pass breakup for SLU, which had two sacks and three PBUs as a unit. Tyler Burns finished with eight tackles (6 solos), while Riley Cott made seven stops, including three unassisted and 1.5 for lost yards (2).
The Saints opened the game by driving down the field on the first possession (15 plays, 67 yards), but their 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Rensselaer freshman Josh Cohen and the Engineers took over at their own seven yard line. Marinopolous and Cella led RPI's as the Engineers went 93 yards on 13 plays, a drive that culminated with a 17-yard strike on a slant in the end zone to junior Tommy Avery.
Rensselaer's lead did not last past the next series as Grochet found Ferraro from five yards out to finish a 75-yard drive. A two-point conversion pass to Travis Marnell made it 8-7 for the visitors after the first quarter.
RPI needed just 2:36 to re-take the lead, this time with Marinopolous and Davies connecting from 13 yards. Following a SLU punt, the Engineers increased their lead to 17-8 with a 25-yard field goal from Sanjay Krishnan, giving Rensselaer points on each of its first four possessions.
Krishnan, a sophomore, made it 20-8 with a 31-yard field goal on the first drive of the second half.
After both teams were forced to punt, St. Lawrence got back into the end zone when Grochot scrambled on a fourth-and-10 play and found Travis Marnell downfield. The senior wide receiver found his way into the end zone with 9:01 remaining in the third quarter to pull SLU to within 20-14. A two-point attempt was unsuccessful.
Rensselaer again came right back, this time with a 7-play, 60-yard drive that started with a 28-yard kickoff return by Davies, who finished with 67 kickoff return yards in the contest. Marrianopoulos and Davies eventually hooked up for 29 yards and three yards before Joe Scaglione rushed 23 yards to the five yard line. A pair of runs by Davies, including a three-yarder on a stretch play to the left, made it 27-14 with 5:58 left in the third.
The scoring continued on the next series as Grochot brought the Saints 75 yards on nine plays in 2:17, finding McCormack from 20 yards away to get to within one score, 27-20. St. Lawrence again went for a two-point conversion, but the attempt was again denied.
The fourth quarter featured punts by both teams before RPI's Andrew Banaitis had a sack that resulted in a fumble. RPI, the third-ranked team in the NCAA Regional Rankings, could not take advantage, however, and punted to the SLU eight yard line with 2:51 to play. The Saints ran nine plays but managed only 28 yards before turning the ball over on downs with 49 seconds remaining.
RPI, which will play in the NCAA Playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time in school history and sixth time ever, finishes the regular season next Saturday when it hosts league foe Union College in the Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game at noon. The rivalry is the oldest college football game in New York State and one of the longest running in the nation.
St. Lawrence hosts Hobart College in a Liberty League contest next Saturday at 1pm.
No. 15 RPI Clinches Liberty League With 27-20 Win
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20181103_2vjo.xml
2018
St. Lawrence
20
RPI
27
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Lawrence (2-8) | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 20 |
| RPI (8-0) | 7 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 27 |
Nov 03, 2018