Box Score
Box Score

CANTON, N.Y. - Senior wide receiver Eren Savasli (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Tech.) caught 11 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns and the defense allowed just 198 yards of total offense as the Rensselaer football team defeated St. Lawrence, 44-8, in a Liberty League game at Leckonby Stadium.  First place RPI, the 22nd-ranked team in the nation, improves to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the league.  The Saints fall to 0-7 and 0-4.

Rensselaer opened a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter with the help of a turnover.  After a fumble on the Saints' opening drive gave RPI great field position at the home team's 23-yard line, Engineers' senior quarterback Jimmy Robertson (Yonkers, NY/Yonkers) found junior Mike Fil (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) for a 7-yard touchdown to put the visitors on top only 2:38 seconds into the game. 

After the team's exchanged drives that accumulated little yardage, St. Lawrence had their first scoring chance midway through the first quarter after a blocked punt by first-year student Jarell Roberts gave the Saints the football at RPI's 34-yard line. The home team was able to work the ball down to the visitor's 9-yard line before being forced to try a 26-yard field goal. However, the kick sailed wide right and kept the score at 6-0.

The Engineers added to their lead in the second quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by sophomore Bob Munier (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo).  Junior linebacker Stefan Schulz (Bradford, MA/Haverhill) set up the possession with an interception that he returned to the St. Lawrence 22-yard line. With the short field, Robertson went to work and found Patrick McCarthy (Stafford, NH/Spaulding) on the 4-yard line for a 12-yard pick up. Two plays later, the Engineers were ahead 13-0 with 6:20 to play in the first half.

Rensselaer stretched its lead to 16-0 just before halftime as Robertson orchestrated a 9-play, 73-yard drive that took only 1:52 to get the Engineers in field goal range. Robertson, who became the school's all-time leader in pass completions, worked the ball around the field to Fil,  McCarthy and Savasli to give Peter Nilson a field goal try from 26 yards out, which he drilled through the uprights with only 45 seconds to play in the first half. 

The Saints answered on their opening drive of the third quarter, as JP Kearney led the offense 57 yards in 10 plays to cut their deficit in half, 16-8.  A 15-yard personal foul penalty gave the home team a fresh set of downs at the RPI 38-yard line, and sophomore Alcee Walker's 15-yard pick up on a reverse moved the ball to the 22. On 2nd-and-10 from the 11-yard line, Kearney found Ryan Cooney in the end zone for the score to cut the lead to 16-6. The duo then hooked up on the ensuing two-point conversion.

Robertson and the RPI offense wasted little time in responding to the score, as they took the next possession 49 yards in four plays in only 1:13 to build the lead back to 23-8. Robertson hooked up for a 26-yard touchdown strike with McCarthy who made an acrobatic catch in the end zone, while Nilson added the point after.

St. Lawrence did little on the following drive, as Rensselaer's defense forced a three-and-out. Matt Popov's punt was received by Fil at the RPI 23, and thanks to some quality blocking down field and a few impressive moves, he took the ball in for a touchdown to build the lead to 30-8 with the extra point.

Robertson wasn't done in the third quarter, though, as he completed 5-of-6 passes on the following Rensselaer drive, including four completions for 12 yards or more. With his team facing a 4th-down and 13 from the St. Lawrence 20-yard line, Robertson threw a bullet across his body into the end zone for Savasli, who made the 20-yard touchdown reception to push the lead to 37-8 after Nilson's extra point was good.

The Robertson-Savasli combo was good for one more score in the fourth quarter, as they capped the game's scoring with a 23-yard touchdown completion with 11:27 remaining in the game. The touchdown capped a six play, 63-yard drive, and with the extra point, brought the game to the final score of 44-8.

Robertson was 23-of-34 for 273 yards and four scores, while Munier was the leading rusher for Rensselaer with 40 yards on nine carries. Joe Albano (Dalton, MA/Wahconah Regional) was the leading tackler for RPI's defense, which is tops in the conference as well, finishing with 12 stops, including 0.5 for a loss.

Kearney was 13-of-24 passing for 94 yards, a touchdown and an interception.  Junior tailback Connor Hackett finished with 34 yards rushing to lead St. Lawrence.  Gerard Bryant led all players in tackles with 13 including seven solo stops.

Rensselaer returns to action next Saturday against area-rival Union College in the Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game at '86 Field.  St. Lawrence travels to Susquehanna University next weekend to take on the Crusaders. Both games begin at 1pm.