RPI Topples No. 6 Football, 40-34
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Nov. 29, 2003 – RPI senior quarterback
Dan Cole (Albany, N.Y.) went 26-for-44 for 348 yards and threw five touchdowns as the fifth-seeded Engineers upset top-seed Springfield College, 40-34, in a second-round game in the East Region of the NCAA Division III Football Tournament today at Benedum Field.
The Engineers (10-1) host Ithaca in the East Region Final next Saturday, Dec. 6 at 12 p.m. Ithaca, the sixth seed, defeated No. 2-seed Montclair State, 33-13, today.
This afternoon’s loss ends a sensational season for the Pride, which finishes 10-1. Junior fullback
Tim Lutgens (Greenwich, N.Y.) ran for 116 yards and two touchdowns, and junior quarterback
Ryan Sylvia (Marion, Mass.) added 113 yards and a score. Junior halfback
Kevin Domurat (Forestdale, Mass.) chipped in with 97 yards on the ground for SC, which rushed for 441 yards.
Cole got the Engineers on the board just 1:52 into the game when he hit freshman tight end
Jon Branche (Schenectady, N.Y.) with a 20-yard touchdown pass. Lutgens evened the score at 7-7 when he plunged in from three yards out at 6:33 in the first quarter, but Cole hit senior wide receiver
Flynn Cochran (Kent, Wash.) with a 12-yard score with 2:24 in the first to make it 14-7. RPI extended its lead to 17-7 when senior place-kicker
Matt Verenini (Averill Park, N.Y.) drilled a 29-yard field goal with 1:03 to play in the first quarter.
The Pride took the lead in the second quarter. Lutgens added another three-yard touchdown run, and Sylvia scored on a seven-yard run to give SC a 21-17 lead with 7:57 left in the half. SC threatened to extend the lead further, but junior
Brent Hanson (Algonquin, Ill.) picked off a pass at the Engineer goal line with 2:24 left in the half.
In the third quarter, SC sophomore linebacker
Shawn McGowan (Pawtucket, R.I.) scooped up a fumbled snap on a RPI punt and raced 49 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-17 with 12:49 to go in the third.
RPI reeled off 23-straight points over the next 14:22 to take a 40-27 lead in the fourth quarter. Cole directed three impressive drives, and converted three times on 3rd-and-long situations. On 3rd-and-10 with 10:27 left, he hit junior
Dan Stephens (Brewster, N.Y.) with a 37-yard pass to the SC 4-yard line, setting up a four-yard TD pass to Cochran. Cole fired a 58-yard bomb to Stephens on 3rd-and-14 to give RPI a 31-27 lead with 5:56 left in the third quarter. After a blocked punt on SC’s next possession gave RPI the ball on the SC 32-yard line, Cole tossed a 19-yard completion on 3rd-and-14 from the SC 26 to set up a three-yard scoring strike to Branche, putting RPI in front, 37-27, with :29 left in the third. Verelini added a 27-yard field goal and RPI led, 40-27, with 10:52 to play in the game.
SC mounted a comeback. The Pride marched 65 yards on 10 plays, capped by a 14-yard scoring run by senior halfback
Dustin Grosso (Glen Cove, N.Y.), to close the gap to 40-34 with 6:42 left. The Pride forced the Engineers to go three-plays-and-out in their next drive, and got the ball back on its own 29-yard line. SC moved the ball to the RPI 21, but, on 4th-and-16 from the RPI 35, Grosso fell two yards short of a first down, rushing 14 yards to the RPI 21.
SC’s defense forced another RPI punt, and the Pride had one last shot from the Engineer 40 with :40 left, but could not complete the comeback.
Michael C. “Mike” DeLong ’74 enters his 31st season as a head football coach in the fall of 2012. He enters his 29th year at Springfield College alone. For the past 28 years, he has been the head coach at Springfield, his alma mater. Mike had also been the head coach at Maine Maritime in Castine, Maine in 1979 and 1980. Read more.
