Box Score

Springfield, Mass. -- Joel Altavesta, Jonathan Marrero, and Sam Weiss played key roles in leading their Springfield College football team to a 42-21 Liberty League victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this afternoon at SC's sunny Amos Alonzo Stagg Field. The win was the third straight for the Pride and upped its record to 6-3 overall, 4-2 in conference play. RPI fell to 5-3 overall, and evened its record to 3-3 in the Liberty League.

The score was 21-all at the half with offense aplenty on both sides. But the game became a defensive struggle through much of the third and fourth quarters, with SC scoring one touchdown in the third period to take a 28-21 lead before adding two more TD's in a 36-second span with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

Springfield did produce 503 yards of total offense, including 407 yards in rushing offense, and had its chances in the second half to break the game open before it actually did.

RPI gained 294 yards of total offense, including 150 through the air and another 144 on the ground.

For the Pride, senior fullback Joel Altavesta (Tewksbury, Mass.) rushed for a game-high 170 yards and one touchdown. Freshman quarterback Jonathan Marrero (Boston, Mass.) was right behind with 104 yards rushing and two TDs. Senior halfback Mike Davis (Madison, Conn.) added another 62 yards and one TD overland.

Marrero also completed five passes in seven attempts for 96 yards and two more TDs through the airways. Receivers James Poggio, a junior from East Granby, Conn., caught three passes for 39 yards and one TD, and Phil Baier, a senior from Braintree, Mass., caught two more passes for 57 yards and one TD.

For RPI, senior quarterback Mike Hermann (Hardeeville, S.C.) ran for 90 net yards on 14 carries. He also completed 13 passes in 32 attempts for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted twice and sacked twice.

Junior RB Andrew Armato (Staten Island, N.Y.) also ran for 44 yards on 13 attempts. Senior WR Nick Weber (Winchester, Mass.) caught seven passes for 106 yards and one TD. Senior WR Steve Burpoe (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) caught three more passes for 32 yards. Senior RB Matt Wood (Skaneateles, N.Y.) caught one more pass for six yards and a TD.

On the defensive side of the ball, for SC, junior safety Sam Weiss (Hoptacong, N.J.) had a superb game, leading the Pride with a game-high eight tackles, seven of which were unassisted and of the bone-jarring variety. He also had one interception and two pass break-ups.

Others who played well for the Pride included sophomore LB Mike Dublin (Portsmouth, R.I.) and senior CB Brian Staub (Brick, N.J.) with seven tackles each. Dublin had one forced fumble, and Staub had one fumble recovery. In addition, sophomore DE Max Nacewicz (Newtown, Conn.) had six tackles, including 1.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks. Nacewicz was fifth in the nation with 1.38 sacks per game entering the contest.

For RPI, senior DB Joe Tedder (Stamford, Conn.) led all tacklers with 10. Senior LB Austin Nelz (Marco Island, Fla.) and senior DL Corey White (Taberg, N.Y.) had nine stops apiece. And junior LB Zac Borrelli (Methuen, Mass.) had eight tackles for the Engineers.