BEVERLY, Mass. - George Marinopoulos hit Vinnie McDonald for two of his three touchdown passes, Dylan Burnett rushed for a career-high 124 yards and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) defense allowed only 17 yards rushing as the No. 18/20 Engineers defeated Endicott College 20-14 in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs. With the win, RPI improves to 10-1 and advances to play No. 12/13 and undefeated (11-0) Cortland next Saturday at noon.
Marinopoulos and McDonald, both of whom are graduate students, connected for their first scoring play with 2:07 to go in the first quarter when the wide receiver reeled in a high-arcing, 15-yard throw on the right boundary in the end zone. The score came on RPI's third drive of the game after going 3-and-out on its first two. The series covered 85 yards on 12 plays with Burnett carrying the ball eight times for 36 yards.
RPI made it 14-0 on its next set of downs when Marinopoulos threw to Peter Lombardi in the front left corner of the end zone from four yards out with 11:18 to go in the first half. Among the highlights of the series was a 37-yard completion down the right sideline by McDonald and a 12-yard rush by Burnett that put the ball at the four.
Endicott answered three plays into the ensuing drive when Mike Ingraffia threw a deep ball to Geoffrey Ingrando that went for a 66-yard touchdown with 9:25 showing on the clock. The first half ended with the Gulls trailing 14-7.
The score remained that way until 8:38 of the third quarter when McDonald caught a five-yard pass from Marinopoulos for a 20-7 lead. The drive, which covered eight plays and 84 yards, was Rensselaer's first of the second half. Two big plays on the series were a 48-yard reception by McDonald and personal foul call on Endicott that gave the visitors a first down on the Gulls' 17 yard line. RPI scored four plays later.
Neither team registered any points until Endicott found the end zone on a 20-yard pass from Ingraffia to Kobe Gaudette with 2:50 to play in the fourth quarter. The drive appeared to have ended with a Francis Perry interception, but a roughing the passer penalty negated the turnover and the Gulls pulled to within one score. An onside kick attempt was covered by the Engineers, who ran out the clock for the win.
Marinopoulos finished the game going 18 of 27 for 175 yards and three scores. He was intercepted once. McDonald had seven catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns and Burnett, a senior, carried the ball 27 times for 124 yards - both career-highs - to pace the rushing attack. The Engineers finished with a 163-17 yard advantage on the ground.
Cole McGrath, Joe Deptula and Nate Sicard all had five tackles and each had at least one tackle for lost yards. Deptula, a senior linebacker, had two TFLs, including a sack of nine yards. Sicard, a freshman defensive lineman, also had two tackles for loss and a sack (10 yards).
Endicott's Tim Russell led all tacklers with 15 stops, while Mehdi Squalli and Sam Opont had 11 apiece. Ingraffia connected on 15 of 28 passes for 173 yards and two scores with Ingrando snatching two for 83 yards and Shane Aylward making six catches for 43 yards. The Gulls, who drop to 8-3, finished with 190 yards of total offense, compared to 338 yards by the Engineers.
Cortland advanced to the second round with a 26-21 win over Springfield College.
No. 18 Rensselaer Wins on the Road, 20-14
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20211120_fpeh.xml
2021
RPI
20
Endicott
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 18 RPI (10-1) | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| Endicott (8-3) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Nov 20, 2021