Engineers blow up in single-point defeat to Bombers

The Engineers lost a high-energy game on their Senior Night Saturday, falling 23-24 to Ithaca. This marks their first loss in the Liberty League conference and makes their first-place spot contingent on a victory against Union and an Ithaca loss to SUNY Cortland this Saturday.

Running back Kayden White started the game off strong for the Engineers, running an 80-yard touchdown into the Bomber end-zone on the first drive of the day. The score would remain 7-0 in the Engineers’ favor through the end of the first quarter.

White ran in two of the three touchdowns for the Engineers in the game. He also netted 165 of the team’s 193 rushing yards. However, Ithaca’s defensive force was kicked into high gear, limiting quarterback Anthony DeMatteo to just 92 passing yards in comparison with Ithaca’s collective 248. Rensselaer managed a field goal in the second quarter, then White’s second touchdown in the third. By the start of the fourth quarter, the Engineers were still holding on to a 17-10 lead.

Two deep passes from Ithaca’s Chris Scully both turned into touchdowns for the Bombers early in the fourth quarter. Rensselaer’s efforts to defend were not helped by the four penalties and 35 penalty yards they accrued over the quarter; they remained down a touchdown with just two minutes left in the game. Miraculously, the Engineers managed one final touchdown from RJ Encarnacion off of a recovered Ithaca punt attempt, bringing the score to within one point. Unfortunately, the Engineers tried for a pass attempt instead of going for the tying extra point. The pass attempt failed and the Engineers lost the game 23-24.

The Engineers stand at a 7-2 record for the season, and a 5-1 record for the conference. Their last game of the regular season will be against Union College for the Dutchman Shoes rival game. The box score for this game can be found here.