TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on a balanced offense and a big play defense to defeat Franklin College 34-14 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action on Saturday at Cook Stadium.

Shane Welshans led the ground attack with 159 rushing yards on 33 carries with one touchdown to lead Rose-Hulman's 251-yard ground attack.  Andrew Dion added 62 rushing yards on seven carries.

Dion finished 17-31 through the air for 140 yards to lead the passing game.  Jailen Hobbs had six catches for 38 yards, Adam Saliu added four receptions for 22 yards, and Jake Zimmerman had a team-high 51 yards highlighted by a 47-yard catch to set up the team's first touchdown.

The Rose-Hulman defense played an equally big role in the victory.  The Fightin' Engineers amassed three interceptions, four sacks and scored one defensive touchdown on the afternoon.

Individually, Michael Stevens paced the defense with 11 tackles and a 72-yard intereption return for a touchdown.  Rashard Brown added two interceptions and one pass breakup to go along with four tackles.

Kyzer Bowen contributed 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and one sack.  Stevens, Andrew Hesse and Jonathan Anstett also had sacks on the day for the Fightin' Engineers.  Bryce Mefford added seven tackles, and the duo of Tyce Miller and Winston Amankwah had two pass breakups each.

Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the first two plays of the second quarter.  A 47-yard pass from Dion to Zimmerman set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Lance Shelton to give the Engineers the lead.

Rose-Hulman led 21-0 after two Welshans touchdown.  The first was a 6-yard pass by Dion that gave Rose-Hulman a 14-0 lead at the half.  The second was a 4-yard touchdown run with 11:45 left in the third quarter.

Adam Clark booted a 27-yard field goal to give Rose-Hulman a 24-0 lead at the end of three quarters.

Franklin answered with two fourth quarter touchdowns to move within 27-14.  Derek Thompson scored from two yards out, and Ryan Poole caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Dane Andrews for the Grizzlies scores.  Clark added a 26-yard field goal to give Rose-Hulman three points in the rally.

Franklin had a final opportunity to close, driving while trailing 27-14 with slightly over five minutes left.  Stevens closed out the Rose-Hulman with a 72-yard interception return for a touchdown to give the Engineers their final margin of victory and secure the outcome.

Rose-Hulman improved to 3-1 on the season, while Franklin dropped to 3-2.  The Fightin' Engineers close the 2020-21 home schedule next weekend with a matchup against Manchester.