THE RENSSELAER FOOTBALL TEAM RECLAIMS the Transit Trophy at WPI.After a hard loss to Worcester Polytechnic Institute last year, the Engineers managed to bring the Transit Trophy back to its rightful home in Troy with a strong 36–14 win in Worcester Massachusets.
The first quarter put the Engineers in the lead off the bat, and by the end of the quarter, the scoreboard read 14–0. After each team had held possession, linebacker Brandt Beck ’18 captured an interception from the WPI offense, and provided a return starting at the WPI 49. RPI managed to put the the ball in the end zone with only three plays, ending with wide receiver Danny Calabro ’19 taking a pass from quarterback Ed Trimpert ’19 with 3:11 remaining. Defensive back Sean Egan ’18 then secured another interception at the RPI 34, and Johnny Ramsdell ’18 caught a 26–yard pass to complete the 66–yard drive.
In the second quarter, the Engineers faltered, while WPI managed to put numbers on the board. To begin, the teams exchanged punts, but ultimately WPI completed a 52–yard drive when WPI’s Corey Coogan carried a 17–yard pass into the RPI end zone five minutes into the second quarter. The rest of the quarter was relatively quiet; five other drives were made by the two teams, but to no avail. With a minute left in the second, WPI’s Dereck Pacheco recovered an RPI fumble, only for defensive lineman Paul Marinan ’19 to recover a WPI fumble moments later.
At the beginning of the second half, RPI punted the ball to WPI possession, but the ball was luckily recaptured by Egan once again. WPI’s Lou Garcia forced RPI to fumble, and his teammate defensive back Brian Mahan captured the ball in the end zone. Luckily, a fumble caused by Beck allowed defensive lineman Cole Valinoti ’19 to bring the ball back to RPI, and Marc Meishlahn ’19 managed to score once again for the engineers. To round out the third quarter, Christian Kapp ’18 ran the ball in for two more for RPI.
With the scoreboard reading a strong 22–7 lead for RPI, the Engineers headed into the fourth quarter with victory in sight. Just a minute into the period, running back Nick Esposito ’18 brought in another touchdown for the Engineers. Quickly, Egan allowed for his third turnover of the game, which ultimately opened the door for Rob Law ’19 to bring another touchdown on a 10–yard catch. In an act of mercy, WPI managed to secure their second touchdown of the game with 2:38 left, bringing the score to the final 36–14 for the Engineers.
The Engineers are currently 2–0 for the season, and their next game will be a home game against Western New England University on September 16.