TROY, NY – The Buffalo State football team racked up 450 yards of total offense, but fell on the road to RPI by a final score of 51-28 on Saturday afternoon.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: RPI – 51, Buffalo State - 28
LOCATION: East Campus Stadium – Troy, NY
RECORDS: RPI (5-1, 1-1 Liberty League), Buffalo State (1-5, 0-3 Liberty League)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

 

• Nicholas Bruce (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) caught three passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
• Tariq Nelson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) also caught three passes, totaling 98 yards and one touchdown.
• Franele Johnson (Buffalo, NY/St. Mary's) blocked a punt for the Bengals, and Mikai Johnson (Far Rockaway, NY/James Madison) returned the blocked punt for a touchdown.
• Noah Kimble (Depew, NY/Lancaster) threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in relief.
• Kenneth Mosley recorded two interceptions for the Buffalo State defense, and also made 11 tackles.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Buffalo State got the ball first, but Amir Cameron (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) was intercepted on a tipped ball on the first play from scrimmage. RPI took advantage of the short field, scoring a touchdown with 12:49 remaining in the opening quarter.
• The Bengals advanced near midfield on the next drive, but turned the ball over on downs at their own 49-yard line.
• Each team punted on its next possession, before the Engineers drove into the Buffalo State red zone. After an RPI touchdown was nullified due to a penalty, Mosley intercepted a pass for the second straight game, returning it out to the 31-yard line.
• A big play on a 54-yard pass from Kimble to Darion Jones (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) set the Bengals up inside the red zone, but Buffalo State was unable to capitalize, turning the ball over on downs from the six-yard line.  
• Midway through the second quarter, the Engineers scored on a 89-yard punt return by Sterling Walker-Sutton to go up 14-0.
• The Bengals responded with a touchdown drive, capped off by a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kimble to Bruce with 59 seconds left in the half. RPI needed only 30 seconds to respond on a 55-yard touchdown from Jake Kazanowsky to Gil Goldsmith down the right sideline. The extra point was unsuccessful as RPI led 20-7.
• Buffalo State moved into RPI territory, but Nick Sciandra's (N. Tonawanda, NY/N. Tonawanda) 49-yard field goal attempt was short as time expired in the half.
• Walker-Sutton returned the second half kickoff 70 yards, and RPI capitalized on the great starting field position with a touchdown to make it 27-7 with 13:34 remaining in the third quarter.
• After the Bengals were forced to punt and the Buffalo State defense got a stop against the Engineers, F. Johnson broke through the right side of the line to block the punt, and M. Johnson picked up the ball and raced untouched for a 20-yard return touchdown.
• RPI added a field goal to lead 30-14 after three quarters of play.
• The fourth quarter featured touchdowns on five consecutive possessions, with the Engineers scoring three of those touchdowns.
• After Christian Buckley rushed for an 11-yard score for RPI, Kimble connected with Bruce down the left sideline for a 74-yard strike just two plays later.
• The Engineers scored another touchdown on a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Kazanowsky, before Nelson caught two passes from Kimble on the next Bengals' drive, one for 26 yards and another for a 65-yard touchdown deep down the right sideline.
• RPI closed out the scoring on a 34-yard touchdown rush by Dameon Ming, and the Engineers intercepted Kimble on the final Buffalo State drive.

 
FOR THE FOES

• RPI had 535 yards of total offense, and Buckley rushed for 121 yards on 19 attempts.

 
UP NEXT
The Bengals are back at home next weekend, hosting Hilbert in the final non-conference contest of the season at 5 pm on Saturday.