CASTLETON, Vt. – RPI held the Spartans off the scoreboard in the first half while building a 27-0 advantage and finished with a 41-13 victory at Spartan Stadium on Saturday during homecoming weekend.
The Engineers churned out 320 yards on the ground, averaging 5.7 yards per rush while also passing the ball for 297 yards to finish with 617 total yards of offense as they improved to 2-1 with the victory. Castleton, meanwhile, finished the game with 269 yards of total offense, including just 68 on the ground against a stout RPI defense, as the team fell to 1-1.
Jeff Avery did a bit of everything for the Engineer offense, going 17-of-27 with one interception for 297 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also added 17 rushing yards and a score. Logan Gadder was Avery's primary target, catching four passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, four different runners had over 40 yards, led by Mike Tivinis with 84 yards and one touchdown on six attempts.
Sophomore Tyler Higley threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns, but was picked off four times and sacked on three occasions. Kevin Alberque led the receiving corps with three catches for 24 yards and a touchdown while Makai Hawkins had two catches for 41 yards and the team's other score.Matt Rafus led the rushing attack with 34 yards on 11 carries.
After forcing a Castleton three-and-out, RPI opened its first possession on its own 32-yard line. The Engineers marched into Spartan territory with a mix of run and pass, and on first down from the 32, Jeff Avery connected with Reggie Colas over the middle and he took it to the endzone for the 6-0 lead with 11:05 left in the quarter.
On the Spartans second play of their next drive, Connor Young picked off Higley at Castleton's 27-yard line. RPI took over possession and used the run to drive all the way to the Castleton 17-yard line. On third down Avery completed a pass to Pat Hogan to bring up fourth-and-one. The Engineers went for it but Jay Morgan and Brett Denning made the stop to force the turnover on downs.
Castleton took over on its own eight, but on third down Higley was intercepted by Philip Lanieri III at his own 46-yard line. However, RPI was unable to capitalize on the turnover.
The Engineers eventually pushed their lead to 14-0 in the final two minutes of the quarter. They used a five-play drive to score with just 1:13 on the clock on a quarterback sneak by Avery.
RPI added to its lead late in the second quarter as the Engineers put together a 12-play drive that spanned 63 yards in 5:01. Nick Schlatz capped off the drive with a seven-yard reception from Avery for the score.
The Spartans followed with a drive to the RPI 22-yard line, but Higley was picked off once again. The Engineers just needed two plays to extend their lead, as Avery connected with Gadder twice for 68 yards and a 24-0 advantage.
A field goal by Andrew Franks extended the lead 27-0 as time expired in the first half.
RPI scored on its opening possession of the second to make it a 34-0 contest on a two-yard run by Schlatz.
Castleton finally got on the board late in the third quarter. Mike Perrone forced a fumble at the Engineer three-yard line and Darren Callan recovered it. Higley then found Alberque in the corner of the endzone to cut the deficit to 34-6.
The Spartan defense stood strong and held RPI without points on its next three drives. With just under six minutes left in the game Higley found Levi Sanders for a 35-yard gain to the 42-yard line. Three plays later, on fourth down from the 40, Higley hit Hawkins in stride while scrambling to his right and the sophomore weaved across the field for the score to trim it to 34-6.
The Engineers concluded the game's scoring on a 28-yard run by Tivinis with only 40 seconds remaining to provide the 41-13 final.
Defensively, Ryan Stanek had a team-high 14 tackles and one interception. Nick Romeo added 12 tackles while Jay Morgan had 11 tackles, 0.5 sacks and 1.0 tackles for a loss. Perrone finished with the team's other sack on the day.
The Spartans return to action next Saturday when they travel to face Alfred St. at 1 pm.