BOX SCORE
DEFIANCE, Ohio -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on a strong defensive effort to turn a 12-7 halftime deficit into a 28-12 victory at Defiance College in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Tyler Brutofsky came up with the biggest play of the game on the first Defiance drive of the second half, returning an Alex Larson interception 58 yards for a touchdown to give Rose-Hulman a 14-12 lead that the Fightin' Engineers would never relinquish.
The Rose-Hulman defense proceeded to shutout Defiance in the second half, and two rushing touchdowns provided the points the Engineers needed for their fifth win in six games this season. Rose-Hulman allowed just 307 yards of offense on the day and held the Yellow Jackets to just 9-24 through the air with two interceptions.
Sophomore Austin Swenson led the Rose-Hulman offense by completing 22 of 28 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Alec Fisher hauled in his school record 11th touchdown catch of the year on a four-yard strike, and junior Aaron Abbott moved into third place in Rose-Hulman history with 133 career catches by leading the squad with seven receptions and 69 yards.
Senior Greg Lee rushed for 63 yards on 19 carries with one touchdown, and senior Brian Soller added the other rushing touchdown on the afternoon.
Defensively, sophomore Kevin Nowak led the Rose-Hulman performance with 12 tackles and one interception. Senior Chris Sander added 10 tackles, and Brutofsky contributed six hits along with the 58-yard interception return for a score. Freshman Justin Velasquez provided a boost to the secondary with four pass breakups.
Larson led the Defiance offense with 127 passing yards and 73 rushing yards, and Cody Wilson added 81 yards on four receptions for the Yellow Jackets. Defensively, Eric Strickland and Greg Ward had eight tackles each, while Josh Slayton added seven tackles and four pass breakups for Defiance.
Defiance jumped out to a 6-0 lead on its opening drive, a 13-play march that ended on a one-yard run by Garrett Teague. Rose-Hulman gained the lead at 7-6 on the four-yard strike from Swenson to Fisher midway through the second quarter.
The Yellow Jackets pushed the lead to 12-7 on late in the first half on a 34-yard pass from Larson to Darius Harper. Rose-Hulman had three drives inside the 20-yard line in the opening half, but the timely Defiance defense kept the Yellow Jackets in front.
The Brutofsky interception two minutes into the second half put Rose-Hulman ahead for good at 14-12, however. The Fightin' Engineers later marched 69 yards in 11 plays before Soller scored from one-yard out at 5:15 of the third quarter to make the score 21-12.
After another key defensive stop, Rose-Hulman marched 80 yards in 13 plays with a touchdown that sealed the victory. Lee scored from two yards out to cap the march that lasted over seven minutes.
Rose-Hulman improved to 5-1 on the season and 3-1 in HCAC play, while Defiance dropped to 1-5 and 1-3 in conference games. The Fightin' Engineers travel to Franklin College for a matchup of two of the league's top squads next Saturday.
