TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) football team will travel to Endicott College for the first round of the NCAA Playoffs, it has been announced. The Engineers and Gulls meet on Saturday at noon at Hempstead Stadium. It will be the eighth meeting between the two programs but first since 2010.

This is the seventh NCAA Playoffs appearance for RPI, which also qualified in 2018. The other seasons were 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2017. Rensselaer advanced to the national semifinals in 2003 and to the quarterfinals in 2018. It lost in the first round in 1999, 2007 and 2017 and dropped a second round matchup in 2001.

The Engineers, who are coached by ninth-year coach Ralph Isernia, finished the regular season with a 9-1 overall record and a 5-1 Liberty League mark. They tied for the conference title, but earned the league's automatic bid based on a 14-11 victory over co-champion Ithaca College. RPI's nine wins ties the school record for most victories in a regular season and two of those wins came in trophy games. A 24-10 win at WPI secured the Transit Trophy and a 19-17 victory at Union College on Saturday garnered the Dutchman Shoes Trophy.

Rensselaer averages 22.6 points per game while allowing 14.3. It rushes for 86.0 yards and throws for 209.5 per contest, while the opposition has compiled 129.7 rushing yards and 134.0 passing yards. 

Graduate student Delano Munoz Whatts (Bethesda, MD / Walter Johnson) leads the ground game with 476 yards and one touchdown on 104 carries, including 79 yards in Saturday's regular season finale. Senior Peter Lombardi (Stony Point, NY / Tabor Academy) has team-highs of 57 catches for 549 yards and six touchdowns, while graduate student Vinnie McDonald (Elmont, NY / Elmont Memorial) is second with 31 receptions and 445 yards. He hasa team-high seven touchdown catches. Sterling Walker-Sutton (Stewartsville, NJ / Philipsburg), a junior, has 28 receptions for 373 yards and two scores. 

Graduate student quarterback George Marinopoulos (Slingerlands, NY / Guillderland) has started each game, helping the team to wins in each of its first six contests. He has completed 171 of 272 passes for 1959 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has a completion percentage of 62.8% and a passing efficiency rating of 147.59.

On defense, graduate student Austin Charles (Castaic, CA / Cathedral) and senior Joe Deptula (Watertown, CT / Watertown), both of whom are linebackers, are tied for the most tackles with 57. The duo has 20 solos stops apiece and Deptula has contributed six tackles for lost yards (20). Defensive lineman Conor Ahern (Armonk, NY / Byram Hills), a senior, is third on the team with 55 tackles (17 solo) and senior linebacker Cole McGrath (Southbury, CT / Pomperaug) is next with 54 (27 solo). 

Rensselaer's kickers have made 6 of 7 field goals and 26 of 28 point-after-touchdowns, led by senior Conor MacDougal (Durham, NC Charles E. Jordan Senior), who is 4 of 5 of FGs and 25 of 26 on PATs. He is second on the team with 37 points, which trails only McDonald's 42 points. Zac Montrief (Suwanee, GA / Mountain View), a graduate student, handles the punting, averaging 37.6 yards per kick (58 for 2181) with 21 that have landed inside the 20-yard line.

Endicott is 8-2 overall and qualified for the national tournament by winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference title, going 5-1. The Gulls have won their last two games and six of their last seven.

RPI and Endicott have two common opponents St. Lawrence University and WPI. Both schools went 2-0 against those foes. 

The winner between the Engineers and Gulls advances to play the winner of the first round game between SUNY Cortland and Springfield College on November 27.