Engineering a comeback
RPI quarterback George Marinopoulous runs with the ball against Stevenson University on Saturday in Troy. The Engineers won 14-10 on a last-minute touchdown pass.
Two games into its season, the RPI football team is displaying a flair for the dramatic.
Last week, a last-minute touchdown secured a 21-20 win over Montclair State. On Saturday, George Marinopoulous’ four-yard touchdown pass to Delano Munoz Whatts with 33 seconds left in the game gave RPI a 14-10 win over Stevenson University Saturday at East Campus Stadium.
A spirited Stevenson defense made things difficult for the RPI passing game throughout the contest. But the hosts adjusted their game plan, moving to quicker throws for Marinopoulos on the final drive, a nineplay, 57-yard march that chewed three minutes off the clock.
“They went to some threeman pressure, went into some nickel (coverage) so we had a few things there,” RPI coach Ralph Isernia said. “It was a little bit different in that two-minute drill. I guarantee you this, if we had a chance do to it better, we would. We had some adversity throughout the game, but our guys stuck with it.”
The key play on the final drive for RPI (2-0) came on a seven-yard completion from Marinopoulos to Gil Goldsmith, a play that Stevenson was also penalized 15 yards following the play for roughing the quarterback. Three plays later, Marinopoulos lofted a pass over a blitzing Stevenson linebacker to Munoz Whatts, who waltzed in for the winning score.
“We were hoping that he (the linebacker) came, it worked out for us, I’m glad we got the look and we executed it,” Marinopoulos said. “We started taking what they were giving us. We were always confident as a group; we are always going to execute
the best we can on every single play.”
The final touchdown was redemption for Munoz Whatts, who fumbled at the Stevenson one-yard line on the game’s opening drive.
The ball was recovered in the end zone by Stevenson’s Josh Siegenthaler for a touchback.
“It (the end zone) looked pretty big on that final play,” Munoz Whatts said. “Our coach is always telling us to focus on the next play. You drop the brick, just try to forget about it and get to the next play. I was just working the cut. We saw that blitz and got a little happy, we knew what we had.”
While the Engineers offense took a while to get moving, the RPI defense put in a stout effort.
RPI intercepted three passes, including a secondquarter pick by linebacker Cam Younginer who returned the ball 24-yards to the Stevenson 29-yard line. That set up a four-yard touchdown run by Marinopoulos that gave RPI a 7-0 lead.
Stevenson (0-2) took a 10-7 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter after taking possession of the ball at the RPI 19-yard line following a botched Engineers punt attempt. The touchdown was the first yielded by the Engineers defense in two games this season.
“The defense played a heck of a game, to hold that offense to 10 points, that touchdown was a gift,” Isernia said. “We have to do a better job sustaining drives, ball security, protecting the quarterback. We’ve got to clean some of that stuff up but it is good to say we’ve got to do better after a win.”