BLUFFTON, Ohio -- Historic performances by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology sophomore
Rashard Brown and junior
Shane Welshans lifted the Fightin' Engineers to a 35-0 victory over Bluffton University in the 2020-21 season finale on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Fightin' Engineers recorded their fifth top-two finish in the HCAC standings in the past six years. Rose-Hulman completed the season with a 4-1 record to place as league runner-up for the second consecutive year.
Brown and Welshans led a big statistical game for the Fightin' Engineers in the last game of the 2020-21 season. Brown snagged three interceptions for the most by a Fightin' Engineer defensive player in a game since 2010. His performance helped Rose-Hulman record its first shutout since 2019 and force a total of five turnovers on the day.
Welshans recorded the second-most rushing yards in single-game school history for the Fightin' Engineers. He rushed for 236 yards on 36 carries with two touchdowns and also had a three touchdown on a pass reception in the first half.
Andrew Dion finished 18-of-26 through the air for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and
Jailen Hobbs led the receivers with nine receptions for 51 yards as part of Rose-Hulman's 420-yard offensive attack.
Michael Stevens led Rose-Hulman with eight tackles on the day and also recovered a fumble. Brown snagged three interceptions, and
Charlie Hahm grabbed an interception in the endzone to stop a red zone scoring drive for Bluffton late in the first half.
Other key defensive players included
Andrew Hesse and
Bryce Mefford with two sacks each;
Winston Amankwah with six tackles and one pass breakup; and
Kyzer Bowen with five stops.
Welshans scored all three touchdowns in the first half to help Rose-Hulman build a 21-0 lead at the break. He made a 7-yard reception to cap the opening drive and put Rose-Hulman up 7-0. Welshans added second quarter touchdown runs of 14 and 3 yards to provide the halftime lead.
In the second half,
Maxwell Hatch scored early in the fourth quarter and the extra point by
Adam Clark made the score 28-0. Dion connected with
Peyton Sakelaris on a 7-yard touchdown with 4:00 left to cap the scoring on the day.
Rose-Hulman is set to begin the fall 2021 season at home against Wabash College on Saturday Sept. 4.
