Sept. 8, 2007
Troy, NY - Junior quarterback Jimmy Robertson (Yonkers, NY/Iona Prep) threw for 272 yards and four touchdowns to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a 34-10 win over Endicott College in a Divison III football game at '86 Field. The non-league affair was the season opener for both teams.
Robertson completed 18-of-24 passes for 272 yards and four touchdowns. He connected on scoring strikes of 37, 2, 54 and 28 yards while being intercepted once.
RPI opened the scoring on its second drive of the day when Robertson found an open Eren Savasli (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Tech.) running down the left hash marks from 37 yards out. The Engineers, who saw their initial extra point blocked, increased their lead to 13 points on Isaac Williams' (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) run through traffic on the left side with 2:23 left in the first quarter.
Rensselaer added two more touchdowns in the second quarter - a two-yard fade to Savasli at 13:40 and a 54-yard completion to a streaking McGowan (Mesa, AZ/Mountain View) five minutes later for a 27-0 lead. Chris Brennan (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow) kicked a 25-yard field goal with 2:06 left put Endicott on the scoreboard.
The Blue and Green notched their first touchdown of the year on an 11-yard pass from Alex Smith (Winthrop, MA/Winthrop) to tight end Jake Maxfield (Newport, NH/Newport Middle) with 1:43 left in the quarter.
Smith finished the afternoon by connecting on 21-of-35 passes for 133 yards and an interception. The senior did an excellent job of spreading the ball around as he found ten different receivers on the day, including Maxfield eight times for 80-yards. Defensively, senior Pego Jean-Paul (Deltona, FL/Stamford) had seven tackles, including four solos, and an interception.
Rensselaer returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Utica College in a non-league game beginning at 1pm at '86 Field. Endicott also plays again next Saturday when it makes its home debut against NEFC rival Massachusetts Maritime. That game begins at noon.
