DEFIANCE, Ohio -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology built a 23-0 first half lead and withstood a late charge by Defiance College to earn a 23-15 victory in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action on Saturday afternoon.
Austin Swenson completed 31-of-50 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 394-yard offensive performance. Stanley Hogan III led the ground attack with 103 rushing yards on 26 carries and one touchdown. Michael Iacono hauled in eight receptions for 73 yards and one touchdown, and Alec Fisher made six catches for 97 yards to help propel the offense.
Defensively, Rose-Hulman held Defiance to just 17-47 passing for the day and to three points in the first three quarters. Tyler Brutofsky had a team-high six tackles and five solo hits. Nate Jackson added five tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
John Kirby recorded four tackles but led the team with one interception and two pass breakups. Connor Kispert pitched in with three tackles-for-loss among four hits on the day.
Matt Murray provided a solid all-around special teams effort to boost the performance. Murray made a 29-yard field goal, was 2-2 on extra points, punted five times with two inside the Defiance 20-yard line, and booted five kickoffs with two touchbacks.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 14-0 lead with two touchdowns in the first quarter. Hogan scored from five yards out to cap a 10-play, 55-yard drive and put the Engineers ahead 7-0 with 6:08 left in the first quarter.
Swenson then connected with Iacono to push the lead to 14-0 with 3:26 left in the first quarter. The lead reached 17-0 early in the second quarter on a 29-yard field goal by Murray.
Rose-Hulman tacked on one more score to push the lead to 23-0 with 4:52 left in the first half. Swenson hit Zack Murphy on a nine-yard scoring strike to cap a nine-play, 59-yard march.
Defiance closed the margin to 23-3 at the half on a 30-yard field goal by Tory Savage. The Engineer defense held Defiance to under 100 yards in the opening half to build the lead.
In the second half, Defiance continued to struggle offensively in the third quarter before one big play closed the margin within 23-9 on a 63-yard pass from Logan Scott to Quenell Rutledge.
Defiance moved within 23-15 on a 43-yard pass from Scott to Jason Santora with 4:21 left. The Yellow Jackets recovered the subsequent onside kick, but Rose-Hulman held Defiance without a first down to regain possession with 3:32 left.
After two runs by Hogan and a penalty, the Engineers faced 3rd-and-16 at their own 40-yard line with 1:30 left. Hogan made the game icing play, rushing for 16 yards to move the chains and allow Rose-Hulman to run out the clock.
Rose-Hulman improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in HCAC play, while Defiance dropped to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in conference games. The Fightin' Engineers host Anderson in the annual Homecoming Game next Saturday at 2 p.m.
