Football | 8/9/2018 9:01:00 AM

TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) football team is listed 25th in the D3football.com Preseason Top 25. RPI received 49 votes, which was just three behind 24th-ranked Franklin and Marshall University and eight ahead of Springfield College. Mount Union University, the defending national champion, is first with 623 points.The Engineers, who are led by sixth-year head coach, are coming off an 8-3 season in which they won the Liberty League title and earned a bid to the NCAA Playoffs. They won both their trophy games, defeating WPI, 36-14, for the Transit Trophy and Union College, 20-14, for the Dutchman Shoes Trophy, each on the road.The 2018 squad is expected to return 15 starters, including eight on offense, six on defense and punter(Suwanee, GA / Mountain View). Among those joining Montrief, a sophomre, is quarterback(Guilderland, NY / Guilderland), a sophomore, and all five offensive linemen, four of which are seniors. Rensselaer averaged 177.7 rushing yards, 167.7 passing yards and 29.2 points per game,Defensively, senior(Latham, NY / Shaker), a two-time All-Region cornerback, returns, along with two other starting defensive backs. The Engineers allowed only 19.1 points and 95.9 rushing yards per game in 2017.(Lanoka Harbor, NJ / Lacey Township), the Liberty League co-Special Teams Player of the Year last season as a junior, is also back after averaging 11.8 yards per punt return and 21.4 per kickoff return.RPI begins the preseason this weekend with its first practice on Saturday. Rensselaer's first game is September 1 at Allegheny College (1pm) and its home opener is the following Saturday against WPI in the Transit Trophy Game (12pm).