CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on a balanced offensive attack, a key special teams play and strong defense to top Mount St. Joseph 31-21 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action on Saturday afternoon.

Shane Welshans led the offense with 177 combined yards and three touchdowns on the day.  Welshans rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns, and also hauled in four pass receptions for 38 yards and another score.

Andrew Dion completed 15-of-32 passes through the air for 164 yards and one touchdown to help balance the Rose-Hulman offense.  Adam Saliu had four receptions for 72 yards to join Welshans as a team leader with four receptions.

The Rose-Hulman defense held Mount St. Joseph to just seven first half points and had one key interception.  Tyce Miller had a team-high 10 tackles and one tackle-for-loss.  Bryce Mefford added nine tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one sack.

Michael Stevens added seven tackles, one interception and had perhaps the biggest play of the day on special teams.  With the game scoreless early in the first quarter, he blocked a Mount St. Joseph punt that was scooped up and return 15 yards for a touchdown by Connor Schulte.  Stevens added one interception and also blocked a field goal on the afternoon.

After the blocked punt return for a touchdown, Mount St. Joseph knotted the score at 7-7 on a 7-play, 75-yard scoring drive.  Rose-Hulman scored the remaining 17 points in the first half to take a 24-7 lead at the break.

Adam Clark put Rose-Hulman ahead 10-7 with a 31-yard field goal late in the first quarter.  The score reached 17-7 after Dion and Welshans connected on a 4-yard touchdown pass to complete a 13-play, 71-yard scoring drive.

Welshans added another first half touchdown to push the Fightin' Engineers ahead 24-7.  

In the second half, Welshans provided the final points for Rose-Hulman with a 1-yard run to cap an 11-play scoring drive in the fourth quarter. 

Josh Taylor had two second half touchdowns for Mount St. Joseph.  Taylor completed 9-of-15 passes for 129 yards and also rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions offense.

Rose-Hulman improved to 2-0 on the season, while Mount St. Joseph stands 0-1.  The Fightin' Engineers return to action on March 27 at Hanover.