Capital District college football beat

Division 1-AA

Marcus Rotondi, who played at Shenendehowa High School in nearby Clifton Park, passed for a career-high three touchdown passes as the University at Albany improved to 2-0 with a 31-6 win over St. John's.

In their first Northeast Conference game of the season, Rotondi threw two touchdowns to Jonathan Garrick and one to Chris Phillips to give the Danes a 24-6 lead. Rotondi was replaced in the fourth quarter by freshman Justin Kozlowski, who threw a 45-yard touchdown pass of his own to Matt Crudo to end all scoring. The defense was just as impressive, allowing only 85 total yards in the second half and recorded eight sacks during the match. Three of them belonged to defensive tackle John Bolt, who played tight end in 2000. He has six overall in two games in 2001.

Siena College opened up their 2001 campaign on the road in Oneonta against Hartwick College. The Saints held a high-powered Hawks aerial attack to seven points in the first half, before the Hawks opened up the skies and rained bombs on the Saints in a 35-14 win.

Ryan Johnson caught three touchdown passes for the Hawks, as the home side pulled away with four touchdowns in the final two quarters. For the Saints, they didn't get on the board again until late in the game. John Carter ran in a score from a yard with only a little five minutes remaining in the game. Then with only eighteen seconds left, quarterback Chris Karolus found Charlie Reese to decrease the margin to 35-17.

Division III

Senior quarterback Ben Gilbert passed for three touchdowns in the first half, and fullback Matt LaPorta scored three of his own in the same period of time as the Union Dutchmen began their 2001 campaign with a 56-14 win over St. Lawrence in Canton, NY.

The Dutchmen got started right off of the bat. After a botched punt attempt on St. Lawrence's first possession, Union capitalized when Gilbert found LaPorta for a five-yard score. The Dutchmen didn't look back at that point as Gilbert passed touchdowns to LaPorta (again) and tight end Patrick St. Denis to catapult the Dutchmen to a 28-0 halftime lead. George Beebe ran for 130 yards on seventeen carries plus a touchdown. Union outgained St. Lawrence by a margin of 524-178.

Meanwhile, Rennselaer, who is more known for their hockey program than playing football, started off their 2001 campaign literally on the right foot.

Sophomore kicker Matt Verenini kicked a thirty-yard field goal with 1:50 remaining in the match as the Engineers defeated Plymouth State in their season-opener 17-14. The Engineers scored their first touchdown when Flynn Cochran threw a fifteen-yard touchdown to Kevin Siska with only 1:15 remaining in the first half. The Panthers took the lead back in the third quarter, but the Engineers took back the lead with only four seconds gone in the fourth quarter. John Prymas' five-yard run gave RPI the lead and Cochran's two-point conversion off of a trick play gave RPI a 14-6 lead. The Panthers tied the game with 5:46 remaining, but the Engineers drove 51 yards in seven plays for the final score of the game.

Junior college

After starting off the season with a game that was suspended by darkness at Lackawanna College, the Hudson Valley Community College Vikings returned home to face SUNY Canton in their home opener. The Vikings would impress as they shutout the Northstars 21-0.

Quarterback Dylan Cooper connected with NJCAA Division III All-American Shawn Miller on two touchdown passes. The other touchdown pass belonged to starting quarterback Justin Castner, who passed a 47-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Dyer in the first quarter, but was replaced by Cooper. The defense was also impressive, holding the Northstars to only 36 yards rushing and 96 yards overall. Cooper finished 10-for-14 for 99 yards and the two touchdowns to Miller.