WORCESTER -- Visiting RPI upended WPI 25-0 to win the 2023 Transit Trophy Game at Alumni Stadium on Friday night. RPI improves to 3-0 on the short season, while WPI suffers its first loss to dip to 2-1.
The Engineers from Troy improved their record against WPI to 63-48-5 overall, and 29-13-1 since the trophy game between the schools was designated in 1980.
RPI's run game accounted for the bulk of the scoring, as Kayden White (Pottstown, PA), Christian Buckley (Dunmore, PA), and QB Jake Kazanowsky (Toms River, NJ) combined for both touchdowns and 124 of the team's 134 yards on the ground. White finished with a team-high 56 yards on 10 attempts, Buckley had 10 carries for 36 yards and a score, and Kazanowsky added 11 carries for 32 yards and a touchdown.
Kazanowsky also finished 18-for-28 for 209 yards passing, while Jimmy McGoey (Killingworth, CT) caught two passes for a team-high 74 yards.
Defensively for RPI, Ethan Johnson (Springfield, PA) led the team with eight tackles, while Diego Fernandez (Davie, FL) added six. Marco Olavarria (New Windsor, NY) recovered a fumble and Nate Sicard (Taunton, MA) forced one, both leading to scores.
WPI quarterback Stephen MacDonald (Georgetown, MA) finished 20-for-29 with 186 yards passing, while Jay Mezzo (Naugatuck, CT) caught eight passes for 54 yards. John Chau (Suffern, NY) was the leading rusher for WPI, gaining 30 yards on 12 attempts.
Owen Lehane (Canton, MA) topped the Crimson & Gray defensive effort with a game-high 10 tackles, while Rashad Stepney (Yorktown, VA) and freshman Michael Doherty (Woburn, MA) each added eight.
In a quiet first quarter, both teams punted twice before Rensselaer took over with just under four minutes to play. Following a five-play, 55-yard drive, Jared Elstein (Miami, FL) nailed a 36-yard field goal to put the visitors up 3-0.
On the ensuing drive, the RPI defense padded the score. WPI started a drive from its own 25 and on second and eight, Rensselaer's Nate Sicard (Taunton, MA) forced a fumble and took it 32 yards to the house to make it 10-0, where it would stay after one.
After WPI's first drive of the second stalled, RPI put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive down to the WPI seven-yard line. Following two incomplete passes, RPI lined up for a field goal, but Nate Russell (South Windsor, CT) blocked the attempt keeping a two-score game.
On the next drive, the RPI defense again made its presence known, as Olavarria recovered a fumble on the WPI 10, setting up an easy score. It took the WPI offense just two plays to double the lead, as Kazanowsky ran it in from five yards out and RPI went up, 17-0.
After a scoreless third quarter, RPI tacked on eight more, as a 12-play, 66-yard drive ended with a five-yard Buckley rush touchdown and an Anthony Meissner (San Jose, CA) two-point conversion, setting the final to 25-0.
At halftime, the undefeated, untied 1983 WPI team was recognized as part of their 40th anniversary. Nearly 40 former players were in attendance, including head coach Bob Weiss.
WPI now looks ahead to NEWMAC action, opening conference play at Norwich on Saturday at 2pm. RPI plays its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday, hosting Dean at 5pm.