RPI hosts Anna Maria on Homecoming Weekend
TROY, NY >> RPI is at home for the second week in a row for Homecoming Weekend as they take on Anna Maria College at ECAV Stadium.
RPI enters week four with a 2-1 record coming off of last week’s 35-33 win over Utica. Anna Maria, now 0-3, comes to Troy to play football for the first time ever, after last week’s 37-20 loss to Nichols College.
RPI’s win last week helps them bounce back after a week two loss to WPI, 6-3, in the 2019 Transit Trophy game two weeks ago.
Last week, Senior defensive back Joey Gutowski broke up the potential game-tying two-point conversion with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter and RPI defeated Utica 35-33 in a night game at East Campus Stadium. Trailing by eight points with 2:57 to play in regulation, the Pioneers gained possession on their own 33-yard line and connected on six completions, the last of which was a 1-yard scoring strike. Gutowski batted away the two-point try and the Engineers recovered the onside kick to seal the win.
On the offensive side of the ball, RPI quarterback George Marinopoulos was 20 of 27 for 262 yards and three touchdowns in directing the Engineers to a win. He connected with eight different receivers, three of whom (Tommy Avery, Sterling Walker-Sutton & Nick Smith) had TD receptions.
Defensively, Gutowski fin
ished with 10 tackles, including 0.5 for a loss of one yard, along with two pass breakups against the Pioneers. Classmate John Sadak led the team with 11 stops, including one for a 2-yard loss. Linebacker Grant Tragni finished with seven stops, a fourth quarter interception and a pass breakup. Austin Charles, also a linebacker, chipped in with nine tackles.
Kicker Sanjay Krishnan was perfect on all five of his PAT’s the 35-33 win last week.
Marinopoulos, Gutkowski, and Krishnan were named to the Liberty League Honor Roll after their performance last week against Utica.
In Anna Maria’s loss last week, the Amcats fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Nichols returned it for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead on its way to a 37-20 win. Quarterback Alex Cohen was 21 of 43 for 311 yards and three touchdowns for Anna Maria, which got to within four points twice. The Amcats defense was led by Carl St. Paul, who had 13 total tackles, with seven unassisted.
In the past five years, Rensselaer has played 10 schools for the first time in football with a 7-3 record in those contests. In 2018, the Engineers played Allegheny, Husson and Johns Hopkins, in 2017 it was Western New England, William Paterson and Wesley. RPI also played Maritime in 2016, Buffalo State and MIT in 2015, and Framingham State in 2014.
The game against Anna Maria is the second of a three game homestand for the Engineers, who will see Rochester next week to open Liberty League play before heading off to take on Hobart and St. Lawrence on the road for Liberty league competition, making the matchup with Anna Maria their final nonconference game of 2019.
The RPI defense will be looking to continue their turnover success. With one more turnover than Utica on Saturday, Rensselaer is now even in turnover margin on the season/ The Engineers were +4 against Allegheny, a 52-14 win, but -3 against WPI, a 6-3 loss.