TROY – The RPI football team wants to head into the NCAA playoffs on the high of a Dutchman Shoes Trophy victory.
Union College hopes to keep the coveted prize and send the Engineers into the postseason on sour note.
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The Engineers and Garnet Chargers meet again in New York’s oldest college football rivalry, established in 1886, at noon Saturday at RPI’s East Campus Stadium.
RPI (7-2 overall, 6-0 league) won 14-10 at Ithaca last week to clinch at least a share of the Liberty League title and the automatic bid to the Division III tournament.
Heading into the regular-season finale, the Engineers are trying to regain the Dutchman Shoes, which they lost 28-21 in Schenectady last year.
“That would be nice, for sure, and that would also give us a little bit of momentum going into playoffs,” RPI senior running back Kayden White said. “We are taking this game very seriously. People might think that since we won the league, we don’t really care about this game, but both teams definitely care about this game a lot.”
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A victory would give RPI the outright league championship. A loss would leave the Engineers tied with Ithaca for first.
For Union (5-4, 4-2), beating its Route 7 rival is a way to salvage a season that fell short of expectations. The Garnet Chargers entered the year with hopes of defending their Liberty League title. However, they lost to Hobart and Ithaca to end those dreams.
“I don’t want to go out losing pretty much all of our big games this year,” Union senior defensive lineman Jordan Black said. “I want to at least go out with a meaningful win in the biggest game of the year and take home the Shoes Trophy.”
He’d also like to keep the Engineers from running the table in league play.
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“We want to throw a little asterisk on their league (title),” Black said. “Obviously, we’re out of it, but to say they didn’t beat everyone outright would be nice to do that.”
RPI coach Ralph Isernia said he’s telling his players a cautionary tale about the 2018 team. That season, RPI also clinched the league title and a NCAA Tournament bid going into the finale against Union in Troy.
The Engineers proceeded to get blown out 34-10 by the Garnet Chargers, a performance that Isernia blamed at least partly on a lack of focus.
“It’s one of those things, coming off that huge emotional high after winning the league and, then, hey, you’ve got to get back to work,” Isernia. “We talk about climbing the mountain. You’ve got to climb the mountain this week.”
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After losing 35-14 to Ithaca, Union has rebounded to beat Hilbert 56-7 and Rochester 27-0.
“They’re explosive on offense,” Isernia said. “Their quarterback (junior Luke Sheehan) has really come into his own as a thrower and a runner. … Their defense is absolutely suffocating.”
White leads RPI in rushing with 796 yards and touchdowns. The Engineers use two quarterbacks, Micah Balzarini and Justin McCormack, who each threw a touchdown pass against Ithaca.
“They’re a good program,” Black said. “Key thing we have to do is play together and just focus on each player doing their own job, not trying to do too much.”
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There is familiarity between some RPI and Union players. White, from Pottstown, Pa., played in a high school rivalry against Union linebacker Dwayne Hinds.
He said the intensity of the Dutchman Shoes rivalry comes from the common ground the teams share.
“I think it’s because we’re very close in proximity and then we’re both very academically challenging schools,” White said.
There’s a discrepancy in the series record. Union says it leads 85-33-4, while RPI claims it’s an 83-33-5 edge for the Garnet Chargers.
Union coach Jon Drach, entering his third Dutchman Shoes game, has quickly learned why it’s meaningful.
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“It’s a historic rivalry,” Drach said. “They have kids on their roster that we recruited. We have kids on our roster they recruited. I think it just means so much to each individual institution. There is so much crossover in everything we do.”
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This article originally published at Playoff-bound RPI football meets Union for Dutchman Shoes Trophy.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
