The good thing about being an engineering major on a football team at a school like Worcester Polytechnic Institute is, you're not alone. Everybody on the team is trying to balance football with a rigorous academic load.

"Our coach has us make a schedule before the start of every season," said Aaron Champagne, a junior running back from Fairfield. "We help each other out quite a bit."

A civil engineering major with a 4.0 grade point average, Champagne is enjoying success on the field for the Engineers, as well as in the classroom. With Saturday's 52-0 win against Becker, WPI is 3-0. Champagne had six carries for 53 yards a touchdown in the game.

For the season, Champagne has 167 yards and four touchdown on 28 carries.

"You can't coach a better kid," said Ed Zaloom, WPI's head coach. "He's totally reliable and dependable."

In a 34-20 win against Salve Regina last week, Champagne ran for two touchdowns. The first, a 3-yard run, gave the Engineers the lead in the first quarter. The second, a 14-yard run, came with 1 minute, 17 seconds to play and iced the win.

"You can always count on (Champagne) to make the big plays. He rarely makes a mistake because he's meticulous with detail," Zaloom said.

Last season, Champagne had 83 carries for 307 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught 15 passes for 180 yards and two scores. This season, Champagne is part of a rotation of backs that have split the carries evenly.

"We run the spread (offense) and we're 50-50 between the run and the pass," Champagne said. "We run a lot of option."

A two-way starter and a finalist for the Fitzpatrick Trophy in 2006, when he helped Lawrence win the Class A state title, Champagne has focused just on offense at WPI. The key to success in the season is hard work all spring and summer, Champagne said.

"Offseason is the biggest key. That's the biggest part of college football, coming into camp in shape," he said.

Last year, Champagne was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I team, as well as the Liberty League's All-Academic team. The Engineers went 7-3 last season, 4-3 in the Liberty League, and Champagne believes the team can improve on that in 2009.

"We're pretty optimistic," Champagne said.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com