TROY, N.Y. - For the second consecutive year, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) football team ended their season on a high note with a win in the ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl, as they defeated Widener by a final score of 49-21 at ECAV Stadium. The win bookends a strong season for the Engineers, as RPI finishes the 2023 campaign with an 8-3 overall record. Freshman Kayden White was named the game's Most Valuable Player, finishing the game with a game-high 155 yards from the line of scrimmage and two touchdowns.

Widener was the first on the board in the first quarter, scoring on their first drive after forcing an RPI three-and-out. The drive resulted in a 15-yard touchdown pass to Issac Hostetter from Chase Diehl as Widener took the early 7-0 lead. That's all they would see for the time being, as RPI took control through the remaining first half minutes.

It took just two plays from scrimmage for the Engineers to toss a touchdown of their own up on the board, as RPI used some trickery to convert the points. After a 27 yard catch by Anthony Meissner from Justin McCormack moved RPI into Widener territory to the 48 yard line, the next pass saw wide receiver Sterling Walker-Sutton testing his arm on a sweep, finding Kayden White deep up the sideline for a 48 yard score. RPI pulled within a point despite missing the extra point, 7-6.

Anthony DeMatteo began the Engineers next scoring drive, using big plays to Hayden Faraday and Jimmy McGoey to kick start the offense. The march down the field resulted in a touchdown, a seven-yard strike from DeMatteo to Faraday as the Engineers took a 13-7 lead. 

RPI never surrendered the lead from that point, as a one-yard rush from DeMatteo and a pair of field goals from Aleksandar Maric over the remaining minutes opened the RPI lead to 26-7 at the midway point.

White opened up the second half in a big way for the Engineers, scampering from the RPI 22 yard line 78 yards through a gap and into the end zone for his largest play of the season to move the Engineers ahead 32-7. DeMatteo backed that up on the following drive for another touchdown pass, this time to Meissner for a 21-yard play to extend the lead to 39-7.

After Widener scored their first touchdown since the first quarter, Christian Buckley ran the ensuing kickoff in for a touchdown, an 80 yard strike as it now stood 46-14 in favor of the Engineers.

Widener scored once more before the end of the third quarter, a 27-yard pass from Michael Caloiaro to Jordan Baxter for a score to make it 46-21 before Maric knocked another field goal through the uprights for the Engineers at the start of the fourth quarter to wrap up the scoring on the afternoon.

RPI was led in the passing department by DeMatteo, who totaled up 166 yards through the air and two touchdowns. White had 107 yards rushing to go with his 48 yard touchdown catch. Faraday was the day's top receiver for the Engineers, hauling in five catches for 71 yards and a score. Widener's Issac Hostetter had seven receptions for a game-high 105 yards and two touchdowns.