BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology junior Austin Swenson finished 42-57 passing for 472 yards and five touchdowns to help the Fightin' Engineers top Illinois College 51-33 on Saturday night.
Swenson threw three first half touchdowns and added two more in the second half to help the Fightin' Engineers improve to 2-0 on the season. His 42 completions ties for second in single-game school history, and his 472 passing yards also ranks second in program history.
Senior Aaron Abbott hauled in a career-high tying 13 receptions for 138 yards, and junior Alec Fisher crossed the 100-yard mark with eight catches for 106 yards and one score. Junior Luke Kopecky had nine catches for 75 yards, while freshman Kevin Dufauchard had touchdown receptions on both of his catches for 63 yards. Junior Joe Moehrle added six receptions for 56 yards.
Dufauchard added balance to the ground attack with 87 rushing yards on 21 carries. Sophomore Michael Iacono added 71 rushing yards on 22 attempts.
For the contest, Rose-Hulman gained 626 yards of total offense for the second most yards in a game in school history. The team's 38 first downs also ranks second on Rose-Hulman's all-time single-game list.
Brady Huber finished 15-35 through the air for 307 yards to lead the Illinois College offense. Kyle Obertino added five receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Tyree Washington led the Blueboys defense with 14 tackles.
Defensively, sophomore Alec Thompson and junior Kyle Brewer had five tackles and one forced turnover each. Thompson had five tackles with one interception, while Brewer had five hits with a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. Freshman Matt Michalak led the players with four tackles by adding one sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Rose-Hulman senior Craig Larew tied a school record with three field goals to lead the special teams effort. Larew hit kicks of 26, 29 and 31 yards, and also finished 6-6 on extra points to set a single-game school record with 15 kicking points.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 20-7 lead after the first quarter with four scoring drives. Abbott scored on a three-yard touchdown run to open the scoring, Larew hit field goals of 26 and 29 yards to cap drives, and Dufauchard hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Swenson to give the Engineers a fast start.
Illinois College rallied to take a 21-20 lead, before Rose-Hulman scored the final two touchdowns of the first half. Moehrle caught a seven-yard strike from Swenson with 5:19 remaining, before Sterling Mitchell made an eight-yard touchdown catch with 1:06 left in the half to give the Engineers a 34-21 halftime lead.
Illinois College closed to within 34-27 on a 64-yard touchdown pass from Huber to Obertino, but Rose-Hulman answered with two more third quarter touchdowns to help secure the victory. Dufauchard scored from 23 yards out on a pass from Swenson, and the quarterback later hit Fisher for a 27-yard touchdown at the 3:46 mark of the third quarter.
Larew capped the scoring with a 31-yard field goal, before an efficient Rose-Hulman performance ran out the last 8:20 without either team scoring.
Rose-Hulman improved to 2-0 on the season for the second consecutive year, while Illinois College stands 1-1. The Fightin' Engineers host Hanover College in the Homecoming Game next Saturday at 2 p.m.
