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Saints football shatters passing and receiving records, but fall in tight battle with 15th-ranked Rensselaer

Posted 11/4/18

The St. Lawrence University football team set six program records and gave 15th-ranked Rensselaer a tough battle, but ultimately fell to the Engineers by a 27-20 score in a Liberty League contest at …

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Saints football shatters passing and receiving records, but fall in tight battle with 15th-ranked Rensselaer

Posted

The St. Lawrence University football team set six program records and gave 15th-ranked Rensselaer a tough battle, but ultimately fell to the Engineers by a 27-20 score in a Liberty League contest at East Campus Stadium in Troy, New York, on Saturday afternoon.

Rookie quarterback Tyler Grochot broke program records for completions (36) and attempts (71) in a game, and the team records in those categories (38 completions, 76 attempts) also fell. The previous records for completions (35) and attempts (52) were set in a 38-24 win over Rochester on Oct. 6, and the team record had been 58, set against Alfred in 2009. Aaron Ruthman played one series at quarterback for the Saints, going 2-for-5 for 25 passing yards.

Anthony Ferraro broke the program record for receptions in a season with one game remaining on the schedule, making 16 catches for 182 yards to bring his season total to 69 catches. Ferraro's brother, Vincenzo Ferraro, had been the record holder after making 66 catches last season.

The Saints have also shattered the program record for pass attempts in a season with 439 with one game remaining. The previous record of 382 was set in 2015.

"The last two weeks we have been able to play with the top teams in this league," said St. Lawrence head coach Dan Puckhaber. "Our kids are coming up short in the win column, but we are making the other teams earn it. There are a lot of players playing well here at the end of the year. They practice hard every week and when we are finally able to put it together for a full 60 minutes it is going to be a hard earned accomplishment. Nothing has come easy to this team yet they get up and swing every time."

The Saints opened the game with an impressive drive, moving the ball 60 yards on 14 plays – including a fourth down conversion on a pass play to Travis Marnell to the Rensselaer three-yard line, but came up empty as a 20-yard field goal attempt by Austin Pinard was blocked by Josh Cohen.

The Engineers took a 7-0 lead on the next drive on a 17-yard touchdown catch by Tommy Avery on a pass up the seam by George Marinopoulos.

St. Lawrence took a 8-7 lead on the next drive, with Ferraro scoring a touchdown on a five-yard pass from Grochot, and Marnell making an incredible one-handed catch in the back corner of the end zone on the two-point conversion.

The Saints appeared to stop RPI in the red zone on the next drive when they forced and recovered a fumble after a pass reception, but officials ruled the pass incomplete, and on the very next play, RPI took a 14-8 lead on a 13-yard touchdown catch by Conor Davies.

Marinopoulos connected with Keaton Ackerman for a 71-yard pass on RPI's next drive, but Tyler Burns made a touchdown-saving tackle, and the Engineers were forced to settle for a field goal and a 17-8 halftime lead.

Marinopoulos connected with Nick Cella fora 65-yard play on the Engineers' first play from scrimmage to start the second half, but the Saints' stood tall, holding Rensselaer to another field goal to make the score 20-8 in favor of RPI.

The Saints converted on a fourth-and-10 with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Grochot to Marnell on their first drive of the second half to cut the lead to 20-14.

Davies capped a seven-play, 60-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run, taking a direct snap and spinning his way through the St. Lawrence defense to give the Engineers a 27-14 lead.

But St. Lawrence once again responded, as Grochot drove the Saints 75 yards on nine plays, capping the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Sean McCormack for the first career touchdown for the rookie wideout.

The Saints' defense stopped the Engineers with turnovers on their next two drives. Ryan Reinke forced a fumble that Liam Murray recovered, and Kyle Frimel made his third interception of the season, but the Saints were unable to take advantage, punting on both ensuing drives.

After forcing a Rensselaer punt on the Engineers' next possession, the Saints got the ball in the red zone with 22-yard pass from Grochot that deflected off Murphy's hand but was caught by a diving McCormack, but St. Lawrence turned the ball over after a fumble on a sack by Andrew Banaitis that was recovered by Brendan Zotti with 6:46 to play in the fourth quarter.

St. Lawrence got the ball back at their own eight-yard line with 2:51 to play, but turned the ball over on downs at their own 36 yard line and Rensselaer ran out the clock for the victory.

Grochot, who broke the program record for passing yards in a game with 446 against Norwich earlier this season, had his second 400-yard game of the year with 412 and connected for three touchdown passes.

McCormack posted his first career 100-yard receiving game, making nine catches for 102 yards, and Murphy had seven catches for 75 yards, including a 48-yard catch-and-run on a crossing route late in the first quarter.

Marinopoulos was 17-for-30 passing for 386 yards. Seven players caught passes for the Engineers, with Davies leading the way with six catches for 67 yards. Peter Lomardi led Rensselaer with 93 receiving yards on two catches.

Frimel led the Saints' defense with nine tackles to go with his interception, and he also broke up a pass with a near interception late in the fourth quarter. Burns added eight tackles for St. Lawrence, while Riley Cott made seven stops with 1.5 for a loss.

John Sadak had nine tackles and broke up two passes to lead Rensselaer's defense.

With the win, Rensselaer (8-0 overall, 4-0 Liberty League) claimed at least a share of the Liberty League title and has earned the conference's automatic NCAA bid. The Saints fell to 2-7 overall, 1-3 in the Liberty League.

St. Lawrence will host Hobart next Saturday in the 2018 season finale. The Saints' class of 2019 will be honored prior to the game. Opening kickoff is set for 1 p.m.