The Engineers dominated a struggling St. Lawrence team 55-0 in UCAA action on Saturday.
After just squeaking by a solid St. John Fisher team last weekend, St. Lawrence had to know they were going to face a focused and disciplined Rensselaer team Saturday.
It was evident from the game’s opening drive, which ended with an interception by Rensselaer’s Chris Pierz, that Coach Joe King had his players ready to play.
The game was never a contest as the Engineers came out and scored on their first three possessions to take a 21-0 lead into the second quarter.
After the Pierz interception, Rensselaer drove 50 yards on seven plays as Otis Williams’ two yard plunge got the scoring started for the Engineers.
On Rensselaer’s next drive Dan Cole connected from 32 yards out with Dan Stephens. Stephens’ touchdown catch was the longest of the day for the Engineers. Rensselaer’s third possession continued to see Rensselaer display their dominance.
Coach King and Cole did a great job orchestrating and executing another solid drive for the Engineers as Rensselaer went 54 yards on eight plays.
Cole’s seven yard hook-up with favorite target Flynn Cochran rounded out the first quarter scoring as the Engineers had just begun their route of the outmatched Saints.
The second quarter was little different than the first as Rensselaer continued to command the game and the ball.
Early in the second quarter, however, St. Lawrence got their best and only real scoring chance of the game.
The Saints recovered a Williams fumble on the Rensselaer 14-yard line and looked poised to at least put a field goal on the board.
But Jai Echols and the RPI defense had other ideas.
After forcing the Saints back on the first two plays of the drive, St. Lawrence found itself in a third and long situation.
Desperate to make something happen, Saints quarterback Tom Anderson forced the pass into coverage and Echols picked the ball off on the Engineer goal line and returned it out to the nine-yard line.
On the ensuing drive the Rensselaer offense made St. Lawrence pay for its mistake.
The Engineers went 91 yards on nine plays in just over three minutes to make the score 28-0.
Cole hit Pat Hughes for the first of his two touchdowns on the day from eight yards out to polish off the superb possession.
The Engineers quickly got in the end zone one more time before the end of the half.
With just 2:19 left in the second quarter, Rensselaer went 80 yards in just three plays thanks to an explosive 61 yard rush by Williams, his longest on the day.
On the next play Cole completed a five yard pass to Hughes to make the score 35-0 in favor of Rensselaer going into the second half of play.
The second half saw less scoring but saw the Engineers display more authority over the besieged Saints.
The only scoring in the third quarter were two Matt Verenini field goals.
Verenini’s first field goal was the result of another Rensselaer interception. Sean Doran was the culprit this time as he snatched an Anderson pass out of the air and returned it to the St. Lawrence seven-yard line.
Surprisingly, the Rensselaer offense was forced to go three and out resulting in a disappointing field goal which extended the lead to 38-0, Rensselaer.
Verenini’s second field goal was the result of yet another Anderson turnover, this time a fumble.
The Engineer defense forced its fourth turnover of the game when Tim Frame jarred the ball loose which was then quickly pounced on by teammate Greg Giadone.
The Rensselaer offense again took the ball over in excellent field position, the St. Lawrence 46-yard line, but again failed to push the ball into the end zone.
Despite running eight plays and going 36 yards in two minutes and 34 seconds the powerful Engineer offense was again forced to settle for another field goal making the score 41-0 after three quarters.
The Saints ability to hold the Engineers to just two field goals especially when Rensselaer had a short field provided the Saints with two small moral victories on the afternoon.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Coach King wisely decided to sit his starters, and amazingly the Engineer offense never seemed to miss a beat.
Freshman back-up quarterback Frank Catellier had a solid performance throwing for 67 yards on just three completions, and leading the team on two touchdown drives.
Jay Bernardo had 53 yards and a touchdown late while running for Williams, and Anthony Martuscello’s two yard touchdown rounded out the scoring for Rensselaer in the fourth giving the Engineers the blow-out victory.
Cole finished the game with 23 completions on 36 attempts and he threw for 237 yards and four touchdowns, a relatively slow day for the Rensselaer quarterback, considering the standards he has set for himself.
Williams was had an excellent rushing day with 126 yards on 12 carries plus a touchdown.
Cole again did a great job spreading the ball around to Engineer receivers.
Stephens led the Engineers with 105 yards receiving, six receptions, and one touchdown. Cochran and Hughes also had very respectable games as they combined for 11 catches for 66 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters.
Despite the effortless win this past weekend against St. Lawrence, the Engineers will face a formidable foe in Hobart next Saturday at the ’86 Field.
Rensselaer, currently 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the UCAA, can continue their unbeaten streaks both in and out of conference play with a win next weekend. A win over Hobart would also give the Engineers the UCAA crown and a shot at participating in the NCAA Division-III National Championship Tournament this fall.
