For the second consecutive year, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute head coach Ralph Isernia will be facing a new opposing head coach on the Union sideline in the Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game.
“This is a game that's always circled on your schedule at the beginning of the year,” said Isernia, who’s in his 12th season leading the Engineers. “It's the one that you get reminded about every single year from your alums.”
Kickoff is scheduled for noon Saturday at the East Campus Athletic Village Stadium in Troy.
Leading the Garnet Chargers into New York State’s oldest college football rivalry — and the third-oldest in all of Division III football, behind Williams-Amherst and Trinity-Wesleyan — this weekend is first-year head coach Jon Drach. Prior to coaching at Wilkes University, Drach served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Hobart College, who like Union, plays in the Liberty League.
“It’s one of the most recognized rivalries in the Liberty League,” Drach said. “It’s something that is always on the front of D3Football.com and everything else as far as that goes. So I’ve definitely been aware of it for a really long time. And it's been a very well contested matchup, too.”
“We had played against Wilkes last year. He was at Hobart for a long period of time. So I think there's a lot of familiarity with both coaching staffs,” Isernia said. “And he gets his team prepared, and they play like crazy.”
This will be 74th battle for the Dutchman Shoes Trophy, but the 121st meeting between these two programs. The Garnet Chargers are currently in possession of the trophy after a 13-7 win last year. Three of the last five matchups have been won by Union, while RPI is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.
“I think every coach would like to say going into every single game that it's just another game. It's another game on your schedule. But I couldn't stand there with a straight face and say that to our team,” Isernia said. “They would see right through it.”
“I think that one of those things about rivalry games that is so important and so critical is that they're always fantastic games and that you can kind of throw the records out the window, and teams are going to be in closely fought battles,” Drach said.
Union is coming in with a 3-6 record, while RPI is currently 4-5. Both teams are 2-3 in the Liberty League, so this will likely be the last game of the season for both teams. Drach and Isernia are expecting their players to leave it all out on the field.
“This is a one-possession rivalry for a long time, and the team that comes and executes, the team that brings it on game day usually takes the win,” Drach said.
“It’s going to be a game that sticks with our players and our coaches for a long time,” Isernia said. “And it's the ones that you'll always remember.”