Football | 9/14/2018 9:53:00 AM

Game Notes | Live Audio (WRPI) | Live Video | Live Stats

ROAD TRIP: Following a home game last Saturday, No. 21 Rensselaer makes its second road trip of the season with a visit to Utica College for a non-league contest.
 
UNBEATENS: Both RPI and Utica enter the game with 2-0 records ... All four games were non-conference affairs.
 
TO DATE: A 40-19 win at Allegheny on September 1 and a 25-14 win over WPI in the Transit Trophy Game put RPI's record at 2-0 ... Utica defeated St. Lawrence, 9-6, in the season opener on the road and then beat Catholic, 45-21, in Central New York.
 
NATIONALLY-RANKED: The Engineers have moved up three spots to No. 21 in the latest D3football.com Top 25 ... Rensselaer, which was No. 25 in the Preseason Poll, received 100 points, which is nine behind No. 20 John Carroll and three in front of No. 22 Delaware Valley.
 
RPI VS. UTICA ALL-TIME: Saturday's game against the Pioneers is the 11th meeting between the two schools with the first contest coming in 2002 ... The teams last met in 2011.
FIRST 10: Rensselaer has won seven of the 10 games with Utica, including a 3-2-0 record in Utica.
 
STREAKS: The Engineers won seven of the first eight meetings, but the Pioneers have captured each of the last two.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES:
Sept. 14, 2002: RPI 47, Utica 0 in Troy
Sept. 13, 2003: RPI 17, Utica 6 in Utica
Sept. 18, 2004: Utica 9, RPI 7 in Utica
Sept. 17, 2005: RPI 41, Utica 10 in Troy
Sept. 16, 2006: RPI 34, Utica 10 in Utica
Sept. 15, 2007: RPI 24, Utica 0 in Troy
Sept. 20, 2008: RPI 24, Utica 10 in Utica
Sept. 19, 2009: RPI 17, Utica 14 in Troy
Sept. 18, 2010: Utica 42, RPI 21 in Utica
Oct. 8, 2011: Utica 38, RPI 28 in Troy
 
ON SEPT. 15: Rensselaer has played seven games on September 15, going 4-2-1 ... It defeated Middlebury in 1945 (12-6), lost to Hobart in 1973 (29-0), tied Coast Guard in 1979 (6-6), lost to Coast Guard in 1984 (24-6), beat Coast Guard in 1990 (7-6), defeated Utica in 2007 (24-0) and beat Castleton in 2012 (56-35).
 
TWO-FOR-TWO: The Engineers are 2-0 for the second straight season, but just the third time since 2013 ... Rensselaer won three straight to start the 2017 campaign before dropping its Week 4 game (Buffalo State).
 
SEVEN STRAIGHT: RPI has won each of its last seven regular season games ... It is 7-1 in its last eight overall with the loss coming at Wesley in the NCAA Playoffs.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Sophomore George Marinopoulos threw three touchdown passes, two to classmate Nick Smith, and the defense intercepted four passes as the Engineers retained the Transit Trophy with a 25-14 victory over WPI on Saturday.
 
EARLY LEAD: Rensselaer jumped out to a 19-0 lead against the Engineers ... WPI battled to within one score, 19-14, before RPI got back on the board.
 
PICK SIX: Junior John Sadak had an interception with a 28-yard return for a TD to put the home team ahead, 25-14, on Saturday.
 
BACK-TO-BACK: Saturday was the second straight game the Engineers had an INT return for a touchdown ... Senior DJ Stefonsky had an 89-yard effort in a 40-19 Week 1 win at Allegheny.
 
NOW EIGHT: Rensselaer has a Division III-leading eight interceptions by seven different players in its first two contests ... John Sadak has two picks.
 
DEE-FENSE: In addition to its four interceptions against WPI, the Engineers added a pair of sacks (8 yards lost) and six tackles-for-lost yards (16) ... Jack Fallon had a team-high 10 tackles, including five unassisted, 0.5 for lost yards (1) and a pass breakup.
 
HONORED: RPI senior Luke Watanabe was chosen as the Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week after the free safety made six tackles, including two unassisted, along with an interception, a fumble recovery and two pass breakups against WPI.
 
HOME WINNING STREAK: RPI has won six straight games at East Campus Stadium ... The Engineers were 4-0 last season with the most recent defeat coming on October 22, 2016, to WPI (19-7).
 
SCHOOL RECORD: Rensselaer's record for home winning streak is 10 games, which it accomplished from October 30, 1993 to October 7, 1995.
 
FIRST TWO RECEPTIONS: Playing just the second game of his career, Nick Smith finished with two receptions - the first two of his career - for 14 yards against the Engineers ... His first came with 7:29 left in the first quarter when he came down with a George Marinopolous throw in the end zone, landing on his back just inside the boundary, to give Rensselaer a 13-0 lead ... Smith increased the advantage to 19-0 when he made another leaping catch, this one on the right side of the opposite end zone, with 4:25 left in the second quarter.
 
FIRSTS SINCE 2015: Nick Smith's two touchdowns and George Marinopolous's three TD passes marked the first time for either of those things to happen since October 24, 2015, when Jeff Avery had three scoring strikes, including two to Pat Hogan at Hobart.
 
RPI IN WEEK 1: Senior Rob Law scored two rushing touchdowns and another receiving, compiling 141 yards in total, and the defense forced six turnovers to lead No. 25 Rensselaer to a 40-19 victory over Allegheny ... Law carried the ball six times for 57 yards with scores of 30 and 14 yards, and had 84 receiving yards with a 71-yard touchdown.
 
ON DEFENSE: Rensselaer's defense had four interceptions, including an 89-yard pick-six by senior DJ Stefonsky ... Senior Jack Hoggard led the team in tackles with 12, including seven unassisted and two for lost yards (4) ... Sean Egan added nine stops (5 solo), a forced fumble, a pass breakup and an interception ... Rory McCarthy made seven tackles (4 solo) with an eight-yard sack, a fumble recovery and an interception.
 
HONORED: Sean Egan and Conor Davies earned weekly awards from the Liberty League after Week 1 ... Egan, a senior cornerback, was the co-Defensive Performer of the Week and Davies was the Special Teams Performer of the Week ... Davies returned five kickoffs for 169 yards with three going for more than 40 yards ... He had returns of 19 yards (to the RPI 29-yard line), 46 yards (midfield), 43 yards (Allegheny 43), 16 yards (RPI 23) and 42 yards (Allegheny 44).
 
WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Named to the Liberty League Weekly Honor Roll was Rob Law, a senior running back.
 
THREE TDs: Rob Law's three touchdowns in Week 1 marked the first time an Engineers player had three scores since Logan Gaddar caught three TDs against Merchant Marine on October 3, 2015.
 
TOP 3: Senior running back Nick Cella is third in the Liberty League in rushing yards with 83 through the first two games ... Sophomore George Marinopoulos is third in passing yards with 465 and total offense at 225.0 yards per game ... Senior Rob Law is tied for second in scoring with 18 points ... Conor Davies, a senior, is second in kick returns, averaging 29.6 per attempt ... Sophomore Zac Montrief is second in punting average (35.0) ... Jack Hoggard is third in tackles with 20.
 
COACH I: Saturday's game against Utica will be the 57th for sixth year head coach Ralph Isernia, moving him into fourth in school history ... Ed Jontos coached 56 games, Dave White coached 81, Dick Riendeau coached 82 and Joe King coached 213 ... Isernia is second to King (152) in victories with 36.
 
UP NEXT: The Engineers finish the non-league portion of their schedule when they host Buffalo State next Saturday at ECAV Stadium (noon) ... The visit to Troy will be the first for the Bengals.
 
FOLLOW THE ACTION: All Rensselaer football games are aired live on WRPI, 91.5 FM, and on the Internet at www.wrpi.org ... All home games feature live statistics at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/football/ ... A free, live full production is available for the home games online at www.rpitv.org.
 
UTICA TO DATE: The Pioneers defeated St. Lawrence, 9-6, in Canton in Week 1 and then beat Catholic, 45-21 ... Against the Cardinals, Utica jumped out to a 35-0 first half lead ... Freshman quarterback Logan Wilcox completed 22 of 32 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns in his collegiate debut ... Junior Peyton Miller made a career-high 13 catches for 141 yards and three touchdowns, while freshman Nate Palmer caught three balls for 69 yards and one score ... Anthony Beaubrun and Kwasi Addo each posted eight tackles with Addo adding one sack for the Utica defense ... Senior defensive back Matt Stone picked off two passes and added two tackles.