MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology recorded its first shutout since 2013 and relied on a balanced offensive attack to defeat Rhodes College 30-0 in college football action in Memphis on Saturday night.

Winston Amankwah had the biggest defensive play of the day with a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown.  The return marks the second longest interception return in Rose-Hulman football history, behind a 100-yard return by Tony Hinkle in 1995.

Offensively, Garrett Wight scored two touchdowns and Noah Thomas added a third as Rose-Hulman outgained Rhodes 346 yards to 231.  Andrew Dion was an efficient 21-of-31 through the air for 197 yards, and the ground game gained 149 yards.

Thomas and Maxwell Hatch led the balanced rushing attack with 41 yards each.  Wight added 35 rushing yards.  Thomas had a team-best 119 receiving yards on eight recpetions, and Adam Sturgeon had six catches for 36 yards.

Defensively, Rose-Hulman held Rhodes to just 8-of-26 through the air for 105 passing yards.  The defense also had five sacks, with Tyler Smith having two sacks and Bryce Mefford adding 1.5 to lead the performance.

Zach Phillips joined Amankwah with an interception to stop Rhodes drives, and the team also had seven pass breakups led by Caleb Brown with two.  The defense had a total of 11 tackles-for-loss on the evening.

Jack Heyl led the team with eight total tackles, and Alex Perez had six stops.  Connor Schulte and Smith added five tackles each.

Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 13-0 lead with two touchdowns in a five-minute span of the first quarter.  Wight capped a 13-play, 75-yard opening drive with a two-yard touchdown run.  Five minutes later, Amankwah snagged an interception and sprinted down the sideline for the 97-yard interception return.

The lead reached 27-0 by halftime.  Wight added a three-yard touchdown run, and Thomas scored from six yards out to cap drives of 13 plays and nine plays.

Rose-Hulman's defense dominated the second half, and the Engineers added three more points to the final tally.  A 12-play, 83-yard drive in the third quarter was capped by a 31-yard field goal by Brett Tuttle.  

All told, Rose-Hulman's four offensive scoring drives combined for 47 plays as the Engineers controlled the ball for 34 minutes in the contest.

Rose-Hulman improved to 1-1 on the season, while Rhodes dropped to 0-2.  The Fightin' Engineers return to action on Sept. 28 at Manchester University.