Engineers outrun Saints in crusade to victory

The Engineers topped the Saints in their game Saturday, scoring four touchdowns after the first quarter while holding St. Lawrence to a single field goal. Their final score of 34-10 came from a combined effort of rushing and passing yards, taking down the Saints through both.

Despite being outmatched in passing yards by a margin of 166, Rensselaer’s offense focused on driving up the middle and sides in order to claim victory, obtaining four of their five touchdowns through rushing. Running back for the Engineers, Kayden White, got both of his two touchdowns of the day this way, driving one in from just beyond the end zone in the first quarter and running one for a 44 yard gain ten seconds into the fourth. White and RJ Encarnacion netted a combined 110 rushing yards, with Encarnacion netting his yards from just two attempts. Two other touchdowns were scored by Christian Buckley and Jake Kazanowsky.

The Saints’ aggressive passing game was met by the Engineers’ stellar defensive line. Cortez Garrett, Mark Lapioli, and P.J. Poknis each made interceptions, with Lapioli carrying off his for a jaw-dropping 99-yard combined touchdown with Nate Sicard at the end of the fourth quarter. In addition, the Engineers sacked St. Lawrence quarterback Lawther twice and held the Saints to just 13 rushing yards total. Despite a passing heavy offense for the Saints, led by quarterback Daniel Lawther’s 295 total passing yards, scoring for St. Lawrence ended halfway through the second quarter. This shutdown was led by Engineer Cassius Johnson with the team high of eight tackles in the game. Johnson was aided by Anthony D’Agostino and Jon Borkowski with seven tackles each.

RPI rises to a 3-3 record for the season, with a 1-1 record in the Liberty League. Their next game will be at Ithaca College on Saturday, October 19. Click here for this game’s box score and here for the RPI TV broadcast.