WORCESTER, Mass – WPI took advantage of two 70-yard plays in the first half to build an early lead and went on to a 31-21 victory over the University of Rochester at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.

Sean Murphy returned a kickoff 74 yards to set up a short scoring drive in the first quarter that tied the score. Zach Grasis ran 70 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter that gave the Engineers a 14-7 lead.

Grasis ran 22 times for 155 yards and scored twice. His rushing total nearly equaled that of Rochester which finished with 161 yards on 40 tries.

WPI broke a four-game losing streak with the victory. The Engineers are 3-6 overall, 2-4 in the Liberty League. Rochester had a three-game winning streak stopped. The Yellowjackets are 5-3 overall, 3-2 in the Liberty League.

Rochester committed five turnovers – three lost fumbles and two interceptions. The Yellowjackets reached the red zone six times, but scored on half the possessions. WPI scored on four of its five trips inside Rochester's red zone – three TDs and a field goal.

WPI quarterback Johnny Antonopoulos ran for 80 yards on 22 carries. He was intercepted once and sacked three times – twice by James Barrett. Antonopoulos completed 14 of 24 passes for 99 yards and two scores – a 13-yard pass to Gallagher Hogan (which tied the score at 7-7 in the first quarter), and a three-yarder to Ehab Hamdan midway through the third period. That TD pass gave WPI a 21-14 lead. Grasis followed with a five-yard scoring run in the first minute of the fourth quarter. That came two plays after WPI recovered a fumble by Rochester quarterback Dean Kennedy at the UR 19. It gave WPI a 28-14 lead and the closest the Yellowjackets got was 28-21.

Kennedy connected on 22 of 41 throws for 276 yards and two scores. He was intercepted twice and sacked once. He rushed 13 times for a net of 40 yards. Myles Allen led the Yellowjackets with 64 yards on 15 carries. He scored on an 18-yard run early in the third quarter to tie the score at 14-14.

Rochester finished with 437 yards in offense (161 rushing, 276 passing). WPI rushed for 248 yards and passed for 99 more, 347 in all. Thomas Hayes caught nine passes for 122 yards for Rochester. Derek Wager caught six balls for 85 yards and a touchdown. Garrett Kesel also had a touchdown catch.

Right after the Grasis touchdown made it 28-14 early in the fourth, Kennedy directed a six-play, 64-yard drive that ended with the TD pass to Wager. Kennedy and Hayes hooked up on a 38-yard catch and run in the drive that moved the ball to the WPI 24. Allen rushed twice – for seven yards, then four – sandwiched around an eight-yard completion to Hayes. The TD pass came on the next play.

WPI answered with Antonopoulos making the key plays. Starting at his own 36, he scrambled for 24 yards to the Rochester 40. Later in the drive, facing second-and-14 at the UR 32, he completed a 21-yard TD pass to Joe Brigham that moved the ball to the 11. When the Rochester defense held, Blaine Bursey kicked a 20-yard field goal for a 31-21 lead with 6:13 left.

On the next drive, Kennedy took Rochester down to the 20, where he was picked off by Murphy inside the 10. When the Engineers couldn't move outside their own 30, they punted and Rochester took over for one last drive starting at its own 39 with 58 seconds left. With the help of a hook and lateral, Rochester moved to the WPI 18. On second down, Kennedy was sacked and he fumbled. It was recovered by WPI's Jack Downey at the Engineer 33. A kneel-down ended the game.