The RPI football team opened the 2008 season on the right foot with a decisive 36-7 victory on the road at the Endicott College Gulls on Saturday. The Engineers scored five touchdowns on the afternoon, including three rushing from sophomore runningback Nick Costa; the team put points on the board in all four quarters.
After taking the opening kickoff, the Gulls marched down the field before the drive stalled at RPI’s nine-yard line. Endicott was unable to get any points out of the drive, however, as the Gulls’ short field goal attempt missed.
The Engineers’ defense came up big with two key interceptions on consecutive Endicott drives in the half that would prove costly to the Gulls. RPI was able to advance into Gulls’ territory before the drive was ended by Costa’s fumble late in the first quarter. Just a few plays later, junior linebacker Stefan Schulz picked off Endicott quarterback Phil Konopka’s pass, setting up the Engineers at the Gulls’ 31-yard line.
On fourth down on the drive, Costa made up the earlier miscue, finding the end zone on a 23-yard run to give the Engineers the lead. Junior kicker Peter Nilson tacked on the extra point to increase the margin to 7-0.
The Gulls responded by driving 63 yards in 13 plays into RPI territory. However, senior Pete Rankis ended any of Endicott’s hopes to tie the game on the drive by intercepting Konopka. Following three-and-outs by both teams, the Engineers put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive to double the lead to 14-0. Costa scored on a six-yard rush for his second fourth down touchdown on the day, capping off the drive and closing out the first-half scoring.
Head Coach Joe King called the two interceptions “huge. They could’ve had a couple touchdowns on the board, and we could have been having to come from behind, but we did make the plays that we needed to make, and those were two big plays by Schulz and Rankis.”
The Engineers forced the Gulls to punt from deep within their territory on Endicott’s first drive of the second half, setting up RPI with a short field. It took just two plays for the Engineers to cover those 26 yards to the end zone. Sophomore wideout Patrick McCarthy made just one reception in the game, but it was a big one. The wide receiver reeled in a 24-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jimmy Robertson to put the Engineers up by three scores.
In the fourth quarter, Costa scored again, this time on a one-yard rush, for his third rushing touchdown of the game. Even though RPI couldn’t execute on the extra point to get a kick-off, things still went right for the Engineers. McCarthy ran the ball into the end zone to give the Engineers two points and a 29-0 lead.
The Gulls scored on their ensuing drive to prevent a shutout at home; however, the Engineer defense once again forced Endicott to punt from deep within its own territory just minutes later. The result: Junior Mike Fil’s punt return was taken 45 yards and into the end zone for the game’s final touchdown.
The offense, led by Robertson, Costa, and senior wideout Eren Savasli, posted impressive numbers all around. Costa, the Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week, finished with 97 yards on the ground to go along with his three scores. Robertson ended 15 of 26 for 225 yards and a score, while Savasli made six grabs to break the century mark with 135 yards. As a whole, the team finished with 354 yards of total offense on the day. The offensive line also had a strong showing protecting Robertson in not allowing a single sack in the game.
Even though Endicott was able to put up 292 yards of offensive, including grinding it out for an impressive 156 yards rushing, the Engineer defense made several key plays in holding the Gulls to single digits in points.
Despite yielding only seven points, the team still has room for improvement on that side of the ball. “I think defensively the biggest problem was tackling,” explained King. “All of their long runs and passes were a result of just missed tackles at the point of attack. I would say that’s our number one goal defensively.”
RPI remains on the road for one more contest before its home opener, taking on Utica on Saturday at 1 pm. King stated that the Engineers “will need to play much better. Endicott is a young team; they had lost their first game. I think that things [will] be much tougher this week with Utica. It’s their homecoming, they’ve got a new coach, a new system, and I think they’ll be really excited to play us.”
Even with the big season-opening win, the team will not be looking past its next game. “Everybody’s going to give us their best shot. Endicott certainly did. I thought they played well. They certainly were in that ball game for a long time.
“I expect the same thing out of Utica,” King continued. “So right now Utica’s the most important game we’re going to play.”
