The Engineers rode the arm of Frank Catellier to their second straight victory, defeating WPI this weekend, 35-33 here at ’86 field.
Catellier threw for 414 yards, and accumulated four touchdowns through the air, mainly because WPI halted any running attack RPI tried to establish.
Right off their first possession, the Engineers picked up much of their yardage through the air. Jay Bernardo got RPI on the board with a two yard dash, but it was set up by passes made by Catellier including a 22-yard completion to tight end Jon Branche. Bernardo finished with 50 of RPI’s 75 rushing yards.
The defense held WPI to a second consecutive three-and-out, and then it was time for special teams to shine. Ramses Jimenez blocked a punt at the WPI nine yard line to set up another pass from Catellier to Otis Williams.
“We made a great play on special teams to set up a score,” commented Coach King. “I don’t think we dominated special teams, but for one of the first weeks, we held our own.”
WPI got on the board, putting a nice drive together on the ground using a few different backs to punch through the Rensselaer defense.
The RPI Engineers continued to pour it on however in the second quarter. Catellier led RPI on a 99-yard drive that was highlighted by a 49-yard completion to Branche, and culminated with a 28-yard hook up with senior Dan Stephens. He ended the half with a successful two-minute drill, finding Brendan McGowan in the end zone to give RPI a 28-6 lead.
King praised the performance of Catellier this week. “You couldn’t ask the kid to play a much better game than he did. He didn’t force the ball in there, and made a lot of good throws.”
The second half was a much different story for both football teams. RPI came out and got another quick score thanks to a scampering Otis Williams finding his way into the end zone after a remarkable catch. But after that, it was all WPI.
“We played a great first half. It’s not like we were doing anything different.” King gave credit to the coaches and players for WPI. “They just played one heck of a second half.”
The Engineer defense, which looked so strong in the first half, and the offense which came out guns blazing all game long, faded away, and WPI pounded the ball on the ground to get back into the game. WPI scored four unanswered touchdowns to pull within a field goal.
In the fourth, WPI showed the good side of their special teams by recovering an onside kick and scoring on that possession. However they missed another extra point, erasing the hope of a two point conversion to tie the game.
“We were five for five on extra point attempts,” King said. “They were three for five. End of story.”
On WPI’s last drive, they were close to field goal range. Honorio Borba made a big stop on their final play keeping them out of field goal range, and sealing the win for RPI. Borba made a game-high 13 tackles, and was named the Liberty League’s Defensive Performer of the Week.
Honored along with him were punter Collin Adalian with co-Special Teams Performer, Catellier with Offensive Performer of the Week, and McGowan with his second straight Rookie of the Week honors, and third of the season.
The win moves RPI to 4-3, 3-2 in the conference, leaving the Engineers tied for third with next weekend’s opponent, Rochester. It will be yet another test for the Engineers’ defense, as Rochester’s running game can be lethal.
Aaron Molisani, Rochester’s quarterback, is the team’s second leading rusher, and overall there are three guys with over 500 yards. “With that in mind, even though you have a quarterback and a running back, you have to treat it as two backs,” King stated. Look for RPI to attempt some different things defensively to try to contain Rochester’s offense.
No matter what the outcome of the last two games, King remains very optimistic about the play of his team this season. “I had two goals at the beginning of the season: win the first game, and play our best football at the end of our season,” he said. “We are taking some strides to becoming a good football team.”
