Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. - Freshman Nick Costa scored from four yards out in the second overtime and the Rensselaer defense held on a WPI fourth down to seal a 21-14 come-from-behind RPI win in double overtime.  The visiting Engineers, who forced overtime with a touchdown with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter, improves to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the Liberty League and retains the Transit Trophy.  WPI falls to 4-4 and 1-4. 

The win keeps the Transit Trophy with Rensselaer for the 11th straight season. The visiting Engineers now enjoy a 53-43-5 edge in the series that has featured 101 meetings between the two storied programs.

Trailing 14-7 with no timeouts remaining and 1:30 left in regulation, quarterback Jimmy Robertson (Yonkers, NY) connected with Brendan McGowan (Mesa, AZ) on a 44-yard completion to move Rensselaer from its 27 to the WPI 29. The duo hooked up again on the next play for 23 yards to bring RPI to the six. On the following play Robertson found Eren Savasli (Brooklyn, NY) for a six-yard touchdown. Peter Nilson’s (Appleton, WI) extra point tied the game at 14-14 with 1:01 remaining. The three-play drive covered 73 yards in just 29 seconds.

WPI’s Manny Cambra (Bethel, CT) took the ensuing kick off back 51 yards to the RPI 38 but the visiting Engineers defense stiffened and forced an interception with six seconds remaining.

In the first overtime, RPI again came up with a turnover when Bobby Stutz (Dobbs Ferry, NY) picked off a WPI pass attempt on fourth down. After a first down, Rensselaer was stopped at the WPI five yard line and missed what would have been a 22-yard game-winning field goal on fourth down.

RPI began the second overtime with a pair of first downs, including a fourth-and-four, before Costa (Yonkers, NY) tallied his second score of the game on a four-yard plunge. WPI then went five yards on its first three plays before Nick Casale (Waterford, NY) stopped an end around for a six-yard loss to end the game.

WPI opened up a 14-0 lead on a pair of Ron Pantalone (Camp Hill, PA) first half touchdowns passes. Mike Butler (Athol, MA) made an acrobatic 25-yard touchdown catch late in the first quarter before Orry Cummings (Windham, ME) hauled in a 19-yard toss with 3:46 remaining before the half.

The WPI defense was the story through the first three quarters. The Crimson and Gray stopped RPI on three close fourth down plays, of all which were measured by the officials and came up just short. Dustin Bradway (Glastonbury, CT) and Andrew Sides (Acton, MA) each registered ten tackles for WPI while Jordan Belliveau (Millbury, MA) and Matt Boudreau (Rensselaer, NY) tallied nine and eight tackles respectively.

RPI was paced defensively by Tim Acker (Arlington, WA), who amassed a game-high 15 tackles while corralling Rensselaer’s first three interceptions. Khaly Merot (White Plains, NY) collected four tackles on the day, including three for loss and a sack.

The two quarterbacks, who each entered the game in the top three in the Liberty League in passing efficiency, both enjoyed success through the air and on the ground. Robertson connected on 21-of-41 pass attempts for 231 yards while adding 55 yards on the ground. Pantalone was 20-of-36 in the air for 280 yards and the two scores while totaling 79 rushing yards.

Each team received strong contributions from their freshman running back. Cambra gained 85 yards on 16 carries for WPI while Costa accounted for 70 yards and two touchdowns for visitors.

Both teams continue their Liberty League schedules with home games next week. WPI entertains Susquehanna at noon while RPI hosts Rochester at 1pm.