Box Score Box Score

KINGS POINT, N.Y. – The Rensselaer football team drove down the field with under two minutes remaining in regulation to set up a 29-yard field goal, which senior kicker Peter Nilson (Appleton, Wis.) successfully nailed to give the Engineers a 29-27 victory as time expired against the United States Merchant Marine Academy in the regular season finale for both schools.

The game-winning field goal for Nilson was his third of the season and second in as many weeks.  RPI's winning drive came right after the Mariners scored on a 38-yard touchdown run by sophomore wideout Richard Lyons (Virginia Beach, Va.) and went ahead, 27-26.

Rensselaer (6-3, 4-2 Liberty League) found the scoreboard first when sophomore Austin Caswell (Round Rock, Texas) caught a four-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Mike Hermann (Hardeeville, S.C.) to put the Engineers ahead, 6-0. Nilson's successful PAT made it, 7-0.

The guests tacked on another seven points on a 46-yard completion to freshman Reggie Colas (Miami, Fla.) from fellow wideout Ray Davis (Worcester, Mass.) before Kings Point (4-6, 3-3 LL) charged back and found the end zone itself. With 8:45 left in the opening quarter, sophomore running back John-Leon Gosselin (Nashua, N.H.) rushed for a one-yard touchdown.

Following Gosselin's touchdown, RPI scored three consecutive times. A four-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore running back Colton Callaghan (Wayne, N.J.) was bookended by two Nilson field goals (22 & 21 yards), the second of which came with eight seconds left before halftime for a 26-7 RPI lead.

While there was no scoring in the third quarter, the fourth picked up the slack. Gosselin recorded two straight rushing touchdowns to put the Mariners back in the contest. The first was with a little over a minute expired in the fourth (21 yards), while the second was with 2:59 left in regulation (2 yards).

Lyons had his huge run come up next and that gave USMMA its first advantage of the day (27-26 with 2:02 left in the game). Gosselin attempted the two-point conversion, but was stopped by the RPI defense.

On the game-winning drive, Rensselaer backup quarterback Julian Schnopp (Dalton, Mass.), who entered to spell an injured Hermann, completed 5 of 6 passes for 33 yards to help get RPI down the field and into confident field goal range. After a timeout by each school, Nilson punched the ball 29 yards through the uprights and sent the Engineers home with a 29-27 victory.

For the Engineers, senior running back Nick Costa (Yonkers, N.Y.) had the team-high in rushing yards with 80, while Hermann completed nine of his 25 passes, which was good for 107 yards and one touchdown. Schnopp finished with eight completions for 51 yards on 10 attempts. Colas compiled 98 receiving yards on eight passes (one TD).

On the other side of the line of scrimmage, three defenders had seven total tackles each for the squad-best, led by senior Colin King's (Glenmont, N.Y.) six solo stops.  Sophomore defensive lineman Corey White (Taberg, N.Y.) had a sack.

For the Mariners, Gosselin rushed for a game-high 197 yards with three touchdowns (31 carries). Quarterback Derrick Ventre was 6-for-17 and threw for 96 yards with no TDs, while he rushed for 41 yards himself.

Defensively, junior linebacker Kevin Stapf (Fort Pierce, Fla.) and senior defensive back Garret Washington (Chatham, N.Y.) had nine total tackles each. The former has seven solos, while the latter recorded eight of his own.