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THE KICKOFF
The Engineers play their first Liberty League road game of 2014 when they travel to Kings Point to face Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday at 1pm ... RPI has won three of its first four games for the second straight season, including a 27-6 league win over WPI in the Transit Trophy Game last Saturday night. 

The host Mariners have alternated wins and losses through their first four contests, beginning with a 23-19 win at Apprentice ... USMMA then lost at Coast Guard, 42-31, before beating SUNY Maritime, 34-17, and losing at Hobart, 42-7 ... The game with the Statesmen was a Liberty League matchup.

THE SERIES
Merchant Marine leads the all-time series with Rensselaer, 12-10 ... The two schools first played on September 29, 1945 with the Mariners winning, 26-19 ... USMMA won the first six games (1945-54) before RPI captured three in a row (1955-57) ... The Mariners then went on a three-game winning streak (1958-60) ... Following a 44-year hiatus, Rensselaer won four straight contests (2004-07) after Merchant Marine joined the Liberty League ... The teams have split the last six meetings.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
The 2012 game between the Engineers and Merchant Marine was originally scheduled for October 5, but was postponed due to the partial government shutdown ... It was played on November 2 in Troy.

CLOSE CONTESTS
Each of the last five meetings prior to last year's 28-13 RPI win were decided by one score, including four games with a three-point difference or less ... In the last six meetings, the Engineers have outscored the Marines by a total of eight points, 146-138. 

NCAA LEADERS
Rensselaer leads all Division III schools with 11 interceptions, tied with Irsinus for the most of the 201 teams that are ranked ... Seven different players have at least one pick, led by junior Phil Lanieri III, who has three ... Sophomore Ryan Buss and senior Nick Borkowski both have two interceptions through the first four games ... The Engineers are fifth in the country in turnovers gained (14) ... Individually, senior Andrew Franks is second in Division III in field goals per game (2.00) and freshman Diego Cuitino is eighth in fumble recoveries (2).

MILESTONE UPCOMING
Next weekend RPI hosts St. Lawrence on Reunion & Homecoming Weekend in what will be the 1000th game in the history of Rensselaer football ... A special pre-game ceremony is planned prior to the 1pm kickoff at East Campus Stadium.

IN 2012: The homecoming crowd at Brooks Stadium was treated to a 34-31 USMMA victory over RPI as quarterback Alex Coviello shined in his return from an injury with 141 rushing yards and three touchdowns ... John-Leon Gosselin ran for 90 yards and two scores as the Mariners had 398 yards of total offense ... Rensselaer, which trailed 28-13 at halftime, had 360 passing yards and 475 yards of total offense but could not come back all the way ... Senior Mike Hermann completed 27 of 37 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns (28, 11, 8 yards) and he rushed for a team-high 72 yards ... Reggie Colas had seven catches for 84 yards and an 8-yard score ... Andrew Franks added three field goals, including 23, 35 and 43 yards ... Wade Hansen for the Engineers, recording a game-high 14 tackles, eight solos.

RPI LAST WEEK: Rensselaer recorded four interceptions, including two from Philip Lanieri, III, while Andrew Franks broke his own school record with a 51-yard field goal, as the Engineers defeated WPI, 27-6, in Liberty League action. With the win, Rensselaer reclaimed the Transit Trophy.

The game started with turnovers on both teams first possessions. Laneri recorded his first interception of the day on Worcester's first drive, returning the pick 28 yards to put the hosts in position at the WPI 28 yard line. RPI pushed the ball down to the Worcester two, but Ryan Mathie forced a fumble to hold off the score. The teams exchanged posessions, with the RPI defense stopping WPI at the 21 by forcing a turnover on downs.

Rensselaer scored on its ensuing drive, as Franks converted a 51-yard field goal with under a minute to play in the first quarter. The senior kicker set the previous record in 2012, hitting a 50-yarder, and tied that mark last season.

Franks was also responsible for RPI's next score, as he hit a 24-yard field goal with 6:16 left in the second quarter to put the hosts on top, 6-0, which came after the Cherry and White's second interception. Greg Abare picked off Dan Eckler to put RPI in position for the Franks kick.

Worcester started a drive at 3:50 of the second which resulted in Rensselaer's third interception of the day, this time coming from Nick Borkowski. Borkowski returned the ball 38 yards to put RPI on the Worcester 23 yard line. With six seconds to play in the half, quarterback Jeff Avery threw a 7-yard pass to Reggie Colas for a touchdown. Franks converted the extra point.

RPI extended its lead further to start the third quarter, as Diego Cuitino recovered a WPI fumble at the Worcester 30. Avery threw for one first down before Mike Tivinis ran for 12 yards and then another five for a touchdown. Another Franks point after put Rensselaer on top, 20-3.

Worcester would finally get on the board early in the fourth quarter. On its first possession, WPI drove down the field, covering 56 yards on nine plays, culminating in a 4-yard touchdown pass by Jacob Grills to Joe Igoe. The Cherry & White were not done, however, as Tivinis added one more touchdown for Rensselaer with just over three minutes to play. Franks' extra point was good to set the final score. Laneri picked off Grills on the first play of WPI's next possession, and Rensselaer ran out the clock from there.

RPI finished with 235 yards rushing, led by Tivinis with 61 yards. Avery added 55 yards on the ground, while Nick Schlatz carried the ball 11 times for 45 yards. Meanwhile, Worcester took the game to the air, throwing for 209 yards between Grillis (137 yards) and Dan Eckler (72). Igoe caught five passes in the game for WPI, totalling 96 yards.

Defensively, four players finished with five tackles for Rensselaer, led by Brad Gahagan, who had one sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Thomas Bennett also had a sack for RPI. Brian Murtagh led three players for Worcester with double-digit tackles, totaling 16, including seven solo.

HONORED: For the second straight week, and for the third time this season, senior kicker Andrew Franks was named the Liberty League Football Special Teams Player of the Week ... He went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts, had five touchbacks on six kickoffs, and punted for an average of 45.0 yards on five attempts in a 27-6 win over WPI in the Transit Trophy Game on Saturday ... Franks made field goals of 51, breaking his own school record, and 24 yards, with both coming in the first half to give the Engineers a 6-0 lead ... When kicking off, he averaged 64.8 yards per attempt with five touchbacks ... The lone return WPI had began at the 1 yard line ... As a punter, Andrew had a long of 54 yards with two kicks that landed inside the 20-yard line and one touchback.

USMMA LAST WEEK: Eleventh-ranked Hobart rushed for 404 yards and six touchdowns on its way to a 42-7 Liberty League win over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Geneva. 

The Statesmen (4-0, 1-0 Liberty) had 11 different ball carriers, led by junior running back Alex Furtado, who had nine carries for a team-high 98 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Conner Hartigan added 90 yards and two TDs on just five carries. Sophomore running back Bradley Burns and senior fullback Dominique Ellis added the other two rushing touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, Hobart kept Merchant Marine's triple option attack in check. The Mariners gained 246 yards, but failed to reach the red zone on its first nine possessions. Hobart took a 35-0 lead into halftime.

Merchant Marine scored its only TD of the contest with 13:52 left in the game. Junior running back Mario Colangelo capped off an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run.

Senior running back Colin Hinchey led the Mariners with 104 yards rushing on 13 carries. Colangelo added 64 yards on 15 attempts. Senior defensive lineman Cody Fields and junior linebacker Dillon Reaves led the Academy with six tackles apiece.