RPI football blanked in season opener by nationally ranked foe

TROY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) football team suffered a 35-0 defeat to the No. 6-ranked team in the nation, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, in its season opener Thursday night at ECAV Stadium.

The visiting Eagles posted 530 yards of total offense, which included 348 yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Zach Weir completed 12-of-14 passes for 279 yards and three scores for Wisconsin, Braedon Ott ran for 99 of the 182 rushing yards tallied by UW-La Crosse.

Weir and the Eagles offense scored its first of five touchdowns in the opening 75 seconds of the opening quarter to set the tone for the evening.

Jake Kazanowsky was 21-of-39 with 179 yards for the Engineers. Kazanowsky’s best play of the evening came on a 46-yard completion to Sean Kelly , who topped RPI with 83 receiving yards. Hayden Faraday added 50 receiving yards as well.

Cristian Buckley registered 61 yards on the ground for the Engineers, including a long run of 46 yards down the sideline to put the RPI within the Eagles 35-yard line, however the ensuing drive would result in one of two Kazanowsky interceptions in UW-Lacrosse territory.

Anthony D’Agostino logged a game-high 11 tackles, including nine solo. Miles Lafferty had eight tackles, and Nate Sicard and Desmond Von Tobel recorded one sack each.

Looking forward, the Engineers will look to bounce back with a 6:00 pm meeting at Wilkes on Friday, Sep. 13.

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