Despite a fourth-quarter meltdown on Saturday that cost them another perfect regular season, RPI’s football Engineers are headed back to the NCAA Division-III Tournament for the third time in five years.
The Hobart Statesmen utilized a solid ground attack and a bend-don’t-break style to keep the game close through three quarters of Saturday’s match, and then exploded for four fourth-quarter touchdowns to claim the UCAA title with a 43-25 victory, their first in Troy since 1983.
The critical play came with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Engineers were up 18-15 and had just made a key stop on third-and-one that left Hobart about a chain link short of a first down. The Statesmen lined up to make a push for it, but a false start backed them up five yards.
Hobart elected to go for it anyway, and quarterback Craig Swanson dropped back to pass.
RPI cornerback Jai Echols flew in untouched on a blitz, but no defender rotated over to cover that part of the field. Swanson spotted the hole and got the ball off just as Echols hit him, and there wasn’t another player within 20 yards of Tony Perillo when he made the catch and rumbled into the end zone, giving the Statesmen the lead for good.
The meltdown continued as Rensselaer came out the next drive and tried three 20-yard pass plays, but each time quarterback Dan Cole just overthrew his receiver. Then the normally solid Collin Adalian shanked a punt for only eight yards, giving the Statesmen the ball on the RPI 45. Swanson went for it all on the first play and connected with Dan Suozzi on a post pattern for a touchdown and an eleven-point lead. The same play had beaten the RPI secondary in the third quarter, setting up Hobart’s second touchdown that tied the game at 15.
Two more overthrown passes and a three-yard scramble later, and RPI faced fourth-and-seven at their own 42. Their decision to punt the ball away again looks unwise in retrospect, as the Statesmen pounded the ball straight up the middle, took a lot of time off the clock, and scored again, extending their lead to 36-18. On the next play, Cole’s pass was tipped up by the receiver, picked off by Hobart and returned to the 2-yard line. Jack Holleran’s touchdown on the next play iced the game for the Statesmen.
The Engineers had plenty of opportunities. Their first drive of the game featured two big plays marred by three 15-yard penalties, including two on one play that turned a first-and-10 into a second-and-39. An interception by Mike Defilippi on Swanson’s first attempted pass of the day was fruitless. The Engineers had first-and-goal situations twice in the second quarter; both times they were held to only field goals.
RPI caught some breaks in the other games Saturday, as well as in the seeding. Pool B teams Ithaca, Rowan, and Washington and Jefferson all dropped their games on Saturday as well, improving the Engineers’ position greatly—they received the fifth-seed in the East region. (Ithaca is sixth; Rowan and W and J missed the cut.) RPI would normally travel to fourth-seeded Curry College this weekend, but that school lacks sufficient facilities to host an NCAA tournament game, so the Engineers get a first-round home game against the Colonels at noon on Saturday.
The winners of that game move on to a Thanksgiving weekend game in Springfield against the undefeated Pride, who as the top seed in the East have a bye this week.
