Box Score |
@RPIAthleticsCANTON, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) football team scored 21 points in the second half but it was not enough to overcome a 24-0 halftime deficit and the Engineers fell to St. Lawrence University 24-21 in a battle for first place in the Liberty League. RPI had its three-game winning streak snapped and fall to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the league. The Saints improve to 5-1 and 3-0.
Homestanding St. Lawrence struck quickly with its scores to take a big lead at halftime. The Engineers came out to start the second half with an 11-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by senior
Nick Schlatz. Senior quarterback
Jeff Avery completed six passes on the sequence, including a 20-yard connection with
Joey Giacone that put RPI on the St. Lawrence one yard line.
The score remained 24-7 into the fourth quarter when the Engineers took a Saints punt - their fifth of the second half - at the SLU 39 and scored two plays later. Avery hit
Johnny Ramsdell from 14 yards and then found Giacone from 25 yards for a score. Another St. Lawrence punt gave RPI the ball on its own 33 yard line but Avery again led the team down the field, accounting for all 67 yards either passing or running the ball. He and Ramsdell hooked up from two yards out to get the Engineers to within three points, 24-21 with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter. RPI's onside kick was recovered by St. Lawrence, which ran out the clock.
Avery finished with 348 passing yards (24 for 47) with two touchdowns and an interception - his first of the season. His favorite target was classmate
Logan Gaddar, who had nine receptions for 172 yards. Ramsdell had five catches for 43 yards, while Giacone had three catches for 60 yards. Avery was RPI's leading rusher with 35 yards on 16 carries.
Junior
Alexander Greenidge led the Engineers' tacklers with 11 stops, including nine unassisted. Senior
Teague Florio had seven tackles (5 solo) with an interception.
Jayson Leigh had 10 tackles (6 solo) for St. Lawrence, which got 106 rushing yards, including a 59-yard score, from Maurice Irby. Mike Lefflbine completed 17 of 27 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He had scoring strikes of 17 and 77 yards.
Rensselaer is back in action on Saturday at 12:05pm against league foe Rochester at East Campus Stadium.
