CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Mount St. Joseph University relied on a balanced offensive performance to top Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 45-27 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action on Saturday afternoon.
Chaitem Tomlin finished 17-26 through the air for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Cory Hastings rushed for 69 yards and had three total scores to lead the Mount St. Joseph offense. Curtis Jones added 79 rushing yards and one touchdown for the Lions.
For Rose-Hulman, senior Austin Swenson finished 34-of-64 through the air for 320 yards and three touchdowns to lead the offensive attack. Michael Iacono (99 yards) and Luke Kopecky (71 yards) led the receiving corps with nine receptions each.
Alec Fisher, Kevin Dufauchard and Raymond Burtnick also had touchdown catches. Dufauchard led the running game with 84 rushing yards and another touchdown.
John Kirby paced the Engineer defensive effort with 10 tackles, and Mike Henry contributed six stops for Rose-Hulman.
The scoring started early in the first quarter, when Hastings scored from one yard out for Mount St. Joseph. Rose-Hulman moved within 7-6 with 4:35 left in the first quarter, when Swenson hit Dufauchard on a two-yard touchdown pass.
Mount St. Joseph pushed the lead to 24-6 late in the second quarter, before Dufauchard scored on a one-yard run with 23 seconds left in the first half to make the score 24-13 at the break.
In the second half, Mount St. Joseph relied on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tomlin to A.J. Gaines to push the lead to 31-13. Rose-Hulman answered later with Swenson's second touchdown pass of the day, an eight-yard toss to Burtnick. A two-point conversion pass to Dufauchard cut the deficit to 38-21.
Mount St. Joseph scored its final touchdown at the 8:02 mark, before Swenson threw his third touchdown pass of the day on the next drive, connecting with Fisher on a six-yard strike to bring the final margin within 45-27.
Mount St. Joseph improved to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in HCAC play, while Rose-Hulman dropped to 4-2 and 3-1 in league games. The Fightin' Engineers return home to face Manchester University on Saturday at Cook Stadium.
