COMPLETE STATS
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology scored 37 points in the middle two quarters and relied on a strong defensive performance to top Anderson University 44-10 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action on Saturday afternoon.
Rose-Hulman gained 451 yards of total offense and forced six interceptions in the victory. Senior Austin Swenson completed 21-of-37 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns to lead the offense.
Junior Michael Iacono hauled in eight receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns, and junior Kevin Dufauchard rushed for 57 yards and two touchdowns to cause a balanced attack. Senior Luke Kopecky caught the other touchdown, an acrobatic eight-yard catch in the West endzone.
Defensively, sophomore Mike Riley led the Rose-Hulman effort with 10 tackles, including six solo efforts and 1.5 sacks. Senior Nate Jackson also had 1.5 sacks.
The big plays were made in the secondary, as Rose-Hulman linebackers and defensive backs combined for six interceptions on the day. Senior Kevin Nowak grabbed a pair of interceptions with a 20-yard return.
Junior Alec Thompson, junior Brandon Volmerding, senior Jacob Whitacre and junior Vince Anderson all grabbed one interception to help the all-around defensive performance.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 7-0 midway through the first quarter, when Dufauchard scored from one-yard out. Anderson answered with its lone touchdown of the day, before Swenson and Iacono hooked up on a 27-yard strike to give Rose-Hulman the lead for good at 14-7.
Dufauchard scored again from two yards out with 11:21 left in the second quarter to push Rose-Hulman's lead to 20-7. Swenson and Kopecky connected on an eight-yard scoring pass in the final 30 seconds of the opening half to push the halftime margin to 27-7.
The second half started in style for the Rose-Hulman defense. Anderson's first possession was cut short by an interception by Nowak, who returned the pass 20 yards for an early third quarter touchdown.
Anderson had its lone score of the second half in the third quarter, on a 34-yard field goal by Trey Boor. Rose-Hulman answered back with a touchdown strike of 29 yards from Swenson to Iacono with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
The Fightin' Engineers rounded out the scoring with a safety on the ensuing kickoff, when Cam Hart and Jon Poore tackled the kickoff returner in the endzone.
Rose-Hulman improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in HCAC play, while Anderson dropped to 1-4 and 1-2. The Fightin' Engineers travel to Mount St. Joseph next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
