CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Mount St. Joseph secured second place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings with a 48-31 victory over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday in Cincinnati.
Greg Simpson finished 12-20 for 259 yards and one touchdown, with Leonard Riston recording eight catches for 205 yards and one score to lead the Mount St. Joseph offense. Simpson also rushed for 86 yards and four touchdowns on the afternoon.
Sophomore Austin Swenson finished 24-36 through the air for 268 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Engineer offense. Sophomore Alec Fisher hauled in 10 receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns, increasing his season total to a school record 15 touchdown catches. Junior Aaron Abbott added five receptions for 62 yards and one score for his 20th career touchdown catch.
Senior Greg Lee led the Rose-Hulman ground attack with 70 yards on 15 carries. Junior Craig Larew added to the scoring with a 20-yard field goal and a perfect 4-4 performance on extra points.
Defensively, sophomore Kevin Nowak led the Fightin' Engineers with 11 tackles. Connor Kispert, Kaelen Garner and Spencer Balash added six tackles each.
Rose-Hulman scored on its first offensive possession to gain a 7-0 lead with 12:09 left in the first quarter. The seven-play, 70-yard march ended with a 13-yard pass from Swenson to Abbott.
Mount St. Joseph answered back with 20 first half points to take a 20-7 lead into the break. Simpson connected with Riston on a 35-yard scoring strike, then Simpson added another score on a one-yard touchdown run.
Rose-Hulman relied on its defensive for two stops inside the red zone late in the first half, with Shane Kelly kicking field goals of 19 and 35 yards to put the Lions ahead 20-7 at the break.
Rose-Hulman relied on a big play to start the third quarter, as sophomore Kyle Brewer recovered a fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Larew booted a 20-yard field goal to bring the Engineers within 20-10 at the 12:58 mark.
Mount St. Joseph answered with two more scores to push the lead to 34-10 on a pair of touchdown runs. Rose-Hulman answered back with the first Swenson-to-Fisher score of the day on a nine-yard strike. Sophomore Joe Moehrle caught a two-point conversion pass from Swenson to bring the Engineers within 34-18.
Mount St. Joseph responded with another one-yard scoring run from Simpson to push its lead to 41-18. Rose-Hulman again scored quickly, this time on a Swenson-to-Fisher 24-yard pass to bring the margin to 41-24.
After a final Lions touchdown, senior Brian Soller led the final drive of the game for Rose-Hulman from the quarterback position and scored on a one-yard touchdown run.
Mount St. Joseph finished its season at 8-2 overall and 7-1 in HCAC play, while Rose-Hulman stands 6-3 overall and 4-3 in conference games. The Fightin' Engineers host Earlham College in the "Battle of the Borders Broadsword Game" on Saturday at Cook Stadium in the 2014 season finale.
