Looking to rebound from a heart-breaking loss against St. Lawrence University two weeks ago, senior Adam LoGuidice wasted no time making sure the Engineers were first on the board this week. He returned the opening kickoff an incredible 96 yards for a touchdown. The Engineers took advantage of the early lead and eventually beat the United States Merchant Marine Academy 42-31.
The Mariners tied it up with 63-yard pass down the sideline to a wide receiver at 7:58 into the first quarter.
LoGuidice went on to return a second ball for a touchdown when a pass from Mariners quarterback Chuck Kleinschnitz deflected toward him—and 33 yards later, he was in the endzone.
Classmate and captain Jay Bernardo scored his team-leading 11th touchdown of the season in between LoGuidice’s returns, scoring on a one-yard run that put RPI ahead 14-7. Bernardo, who rushed for 135 yards during the game, said he is “starting to actually hit his stride as far as reading holes and feeling comfortable within the offense.”
Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Robertson drove the offense 82 yards, finishing with a 23-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Eren Savasli. USMMA successfully attempted a field goal with seven seconds left in the half to bring the score to 10-28.
Rensselaer opened the third with a second drive down the field, and again finished with a touchdown pass to Savasli to take a comfortable 35-10 lead with 3:18 left in the quarter.
John Watson put USMMA back in the game with two touchdowns in a row at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters. Watson struck again in the closing minutes, but it was too little, too late as RPI’s Robertson had again found the endzone in the fourth to bring the final tally to 42-31.
On the whole, the offense has been gaining speed and confidence as the season carries on. “Since the Hobart game, we’ve actually played well on offense. There were a couple times where we had some mental breakdowns where we stopped drives—but for the most part, I think offensively we played pretty well,” said Bernardo.
LoGuidice was awarded both the Defensive Performer of the Week and the Special Teams Performer of the Week by the Liberty League for his 10 tackles, a sack, and two touchdowns. “He played the game of his life down there,” was how Bernardo described LoGuidice’s performance. The defense gave up big numbers, but after the win, Bernardo saw the positives. “They played hard. Merchant Marine threw a lot of different looks at them offensively but the effort was always there ... they had eight sacks, the guys on the defensive line played real well,” said Bernardo.
The team is looking for consistency in its play. The Engineers have “a tough one on the road, and then the two trophy games left ... we have to win out if we want any chance of going to the playoffs. Just take it game by game, the potential is there for us to win out—basically pick up where we left off, use the momentum from each win to build on it for each week,” suggested Bernardo.
Bernardo and the team are looking forward to the first home game in a month when they play Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the Transit Trophy game on the ’86 Field Saturday at 1 pm.
