TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- Nationally ranked Franklin College showed its strength and improved to 5-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action with a 64-14 victory over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday at Cook Stadium.
The No. 12 ranked Grizzlies won their 31st consecutive HCAC game and 15th straight conference game on the road in the victory. Jonny West led the offense with a 39-53 performance for 473 yards and five touchdown passes, and Kyle Linville paced the receivers with 16 catches for 200 yards and two scores.
Senior Ryan Landwehr (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe Valley) led the Fightin' Engineer offense with a 26-40 effort for 210 yards passing. Sophomore Jacob Dye (Tipton) hauled in eight receptions for 57 yards, and senior Marcus Washington (Frankfort, Ky.) joined senior Connor Gerhart (La Mesa, Calif./La Jolla Country Day) with six receptions.
Junior Brian Soller (Indianapolis/Roncalli) led the Rose-Hulman ground attack with 24 yards on seven carries including his first college touchdown. Freshman Jordan Irvin (Amherst, Ohio/Marion Steele) added a fourth quarter touchdown rush.
Defensively, freshman Kevin Nowak (Naperville, Ill./Central) led the Engineers with 10 tackles, including nine solo efforts. The Rose-Hulman defense also forced four sacks, led by two sacks from senior Dean Griffing (Plano, Ill./Aurora Christian) and two tackles-for-loss from freshman Jordan Harr (Carrollton, Ill.).
Franklin improved to 5-2 on the season and 5-0 in conference play with the win, while Rose-Hulman stands 4-3 and 4-1 in league play. The Fightin' Engineers and the College of Mount St. Joseph will square off in a battle for second-place standing in the HCAC next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
