Nov 17, 2018
TROY, N.Y. - The Husson University Eagles (8-3) saw their season come to end by the #23 Engieers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) (9-1) on Saturday afternoon at the East Campus Stadium by a score of 38-14 in a First Round matchup in the 2018 NCAA DIII Championship Tournament.
FOR HUSSON:
- Cory Brandon completed 30-of-44 pass attempts for 288 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions. The senior quarterback broke the program's single-game records for most passes completed and attempted. The passes attempted record was set in the program's first season in 2003. Brandon also became the second Eagle in program history to achieve 7,000 career yards of total offense.
- Kyle Gaudet caught nine passes for 93-yards to become the first player in program history to surpass the 1,000 receiving yard mark in single-season with one touchdown catch.
- Keyshaun Robinson finish with 103 yards off nine catches.
- Robinson and Gaudet both tied the single-game record for most passes caught.
- Miece Loureiro carried the ball 14 times for 49-yards to become the eighth player in program history to surpass the 1,000 career rushing mark.
- Elvin Suazo recorded a career-high 14 tackles (three solo, 11 assisted, the third most in a single-game) with one tackle for loss.
- Zach Connolly tallied ten tackles (four solo, six assisted).
- Elvin Suazo contributed ten tackles (two solo, eight assisted).
FOR RPI:
- George Marinpoulos finished with 273 yards through the air off 16-for-26 attempts with three touchdown passes.
- Nick Cella carried the ball 18 times for 123 yards.
- Keaton Ackermann led all Engieer receivers with six catches for 123 yards on the day with a touchdown, while Nick Smith and Conor Davies each caught a touchdown.
- John Sadak finished with a game-high 16 tackles (seven solo, nine assisted).
- Jack Hoggard had ten tackles (three solo seven assisted, 0.5 for loss), an interception and a breakup.
GAME REVIEW:
- A Eagle turnover on the opening drive of the game setup RPI's first scoring drive that was capped off by a 1-yard Tommy Avery run for the only points scored in the first quarter.
- After the Eagles forced RPI to punt and six plays later Brandon found a wide open Gaudet for a 35-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-all.
- The game remained tied until the final play of the first half when Marinopoulos completed a 34-yard pass to Smith to give the Engineers a 14-7 lead at half.
- Sanjay Krishnan's 22-yard field goal pushed RPI's advantage to 17-7 with 10:26 left in the third quarter.
- The Eagles and the Engineers traded punts back-and-forth until Marinopoulos found Conor Davies with 22 seconds remaining in the third for a 16-yard touchdown pass, making the the score, 24-7.
- On the Engineers next drive, the Eagles forced RPI to punt the ball back, but Quan Soyini had different plans as he return it for a single-game record of 82-yards to the house to cut RPI's lead to ten, 24-14.
- A 12-yard touchdown pass from Marinopoulos to Ackermann and an 89-yard picked six by Luke Watanabe to give RPI the 38-14 victory.
TEAM STATS:
- Both teams combined for 782 yards of total offense.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Today's matchup marks the first game between Husson's and RPI's football programs.
NEXT!
This game concludes the Eagles' 2018 season and the final season as a member of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference. The Eagles will be joining the Commonwealth Coast Football in 2019.