The St. Lawrence University football team dropped an afternoon Liberty League matchup 54-7 to the Rensselaer Engineers on Saturday in Troy, N.Y., as they played the penultimate road game of their conference regular season schedule.
St. Lawrence began the game with possession in optimal field position at the RPI 25-yard line, following a muffed punt that glanced off a Rensselaer helmet and was recovered by the Saints'
Jack Finnegan.
The Saints then made the most of their game-opening opportunity.
Caeden Perreault's 11-yard carry gave the Saints first-and-goal, then starting quarterback
Sean Miles shot a pass to the left, finding
Cole Phelan who dived inside the cone to give the Saints the early 6-0 lead.
Rory McGuire's point-after was good and the score was 7-0.
RPI had a response on the ensuing possession, scoring on a Kayden White one-yard rush, but missed the convert to keep the Saints on top 7-6 at 5:36 of the opening quarter. The Engineers took the lead on a 55-yard passing touchdown before the end of the first, moving ahead 13-7 at the first break of the game.
The Engineers continued to find the end zone in the second quarter, with Micah Balzarini finding pay dirt on a six-yard pass to Josh Young to make the score 20-7 around the seven-minute mark of the second. Balzarini then scored on a one-yard keeper with 29 seconds remaining in the half. After another missed convert, the score was 26-7 at halftime.
RPI had their most productive offensive quarter of the game in the third, scoring 21 points on scores from Balzarini, White and Grayson Hunter. Balzarini and White both added their second touchdowns of the afternoon to make it 47-7 after the third. RPI recorded one touchdown in the fourth quarter to make the final score 54-7.
Miles finished the game 11-for-17 with 65 total passing yards, including a game-long 20-yard pass. Daijier Brooks led the way on the ground with a team-high 38 rushing yards.
Cole Phelan's 33 yards on three receptions led the Saints' receiving corps. Saints center
Jack Smith also added a reception.
Jack Finnegan posted a career-high 11 tackles, including five solo stops, leading the Saints defensively.
Antonio Ricca had a solo, 18-yard tackle-for-loss late in the fourth quarter. On special teams,
Rory McGuire had six punts with a long of 54 yards, placing two inside the 20-yard line. He now leads the conference in punts inside the 20, with 14 on the season.
The Saints' record now stands at 2-6, with a conference mark of 1-4 entering the final two weeks of the regular season.
St. Lawrence returns home for Saturday, November 7, taking the field on senior day against Buffalo State at 1 p.m. Fans can arrive early to view the Scarlet and Brown send off the 12 members of the Class of 2027 with a pre-game ceremony.
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