Sean Richardson threw for 249 yards and ran for another 97 as the St. Lawrence University football team remained unbeaten with a 20-14 victory over Rensselaer Saturday afternoon in the Liberty League opener at the East Village Athletic Complex (EVAC) Stadium in Troy.
The Saints (4-0 Overall, 1-0 Liberty League) surrendered their first points of the season with a first quarter touchdown but rallied to scored two touchdowns before halftime and tacked on a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter for the win.
Richardson was 24-for-40 passing for 249 yards and one touchdown and had a second touchdown on a three-yard run as he finished with 97 yards on the ground. Rodrick Payne nearly had his second 100-yard rushing day with 92 yards on 25 carries.
Richardson's only mistake – an interception on the opening drive of the game led to Rensselaer (2-2, 0-1) scoring the first points of the season against the St. Lawrence defense. The shutout streak that dated back to the third quarter against Mount Union was stopped at 217 minutes and 30 seconds.
Richardson more than made up for his mistake on the ensuing drive for the Saints. Twice during the 14-play drive, the junior quarterback scrambled for first down yardage on fourth down plays. His first was an eight yard gain on a fourth and four situation and his second was another eight yard gain on a fourth and six just four plays later.
Both runs extended the drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Richardson to James Holley-Grisham who was inserted into the offense as a wide receiver. The conversion kick tied the score at 7-7.
On the next RPI drive, Holley-Grisham made the tackle at the line of scrimmage on the first play and then intercepted a pass on the next play to give the ball back to the offense.
Later in the first quarter, Richardson connected with tight end Mitch Gallagher on consecutive plays. The second catch was Gallagher's 135th of his career which tied the school record for career catches that had been set by Mike O'Donnell '08 who caught 135 passes from 2004-07.
"Mitch (Gallagher) has been a major contributor for this football team since he stepped on campus," said head coach Dan Puckhaber. "For him to accomplish the career receptions record in two plus years as a pass catcher shows just how special a player he is. In his career, he has started at four different offensive positions which is a testament to his versatility."
On the first possession of the second quarter, Richardson led the Saints on another long drive capping the 13-play, 65 yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to give St. Lawrence the lead for good. Richardson had three completions to Gallagher in the drive including a 12-yard pass play on a fourth and two situation.
Daly Hebert added to the St. Lawrence lead with short field goals on each of the first two possessions in the fourth quarter. The first was a 23-yard kick and the second was from 27 yards out giving the Saints a 20-7 lead with 5:18 left to play.
The Engineers had a big fourth down play of their own on the next possession with a 60-yard touchdown catch on a fourth and three situation.
With 3:51 left on the clock, the Saints took over and controlled the ball for the remainder of the game. Richardson had a first down run and Payne had a pair of first down rushes to prevent Rensselaer from having another possession.
Gallagher finished with 11 catches for 85 yards while fellow tight ends John Maye (four catches for 79 yards) and Matt Gardiner (four catches for 53 yards) led the St. Lawrence receivers.
Holley-Grisham and Jayson Leigh led the defense with seven tackles each and Holley-Grisham added a pair of interceptions. Chyron Brown-Wallace had five tackles, two for loss and a sack. On special teams, Austen Lauricella had two punts that were downed on the 1-yard line and also returned a kickoff 32 yards for the Saints.
St. Lawrence returns home next weekend to face Springfield with a 1 p.m. game Saturday at Leckonby Stadium.