CINCINNATI, Ohio -- No. 22 ranked Mount St. Joseph advanced to the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs for the first time since 2009 with a 40-31 win over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday afternoon.

Rose-Hulman and Mount St. Joseph entered the game after perfect 6-0 seasons in HCAC play until the final week.  The back and forth game featured nearly 900 yards in total offense between the two teams.

Rose-Hulman led 6-0 and 13-6 early in the second quarter.  Grant Ripperda started the scoring on a 1-yard run to complete a 16-play, 85-yard opening drive and give the Engineers the lead.  After Mount St. Joseph tied the score at 6-6, Daniel Huery returned a kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown to make the score 13-6 in favor of the Engineers.

Mount St. Joseph held a 20-16 lead at halftime after holding Rose-Hulman to a 19-yard field goal by Kyle Rehberg on the final play of the first half on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line.  Mount St. Joseph pushed the lead to 27-16 early in the third quarter on the second rushing score of the day by Josh Taylor.

Rose-Hulman immediately closed within 27-23 on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Miguel Robertson to Huery.  Mount St. Joseph increased the lead to 34-23 on a 15-yard scoring pass from Taylor to Cornell Beachem Jr. with 9:40 left in the fourth quarter, before Rose-Hulman roared back with another score.

Robertson and Huery connected on another touchdown pass, this time 34 yards, to bring Rose-Hulman within 34-31 with 9:40 left.  Taylor scored his third rushing touchdown of the day for the game's final points as Mount St. Joseph secured the hard fought 40-31 victory.

Robertson completed 19-of-31 passes for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Engineers.  Huery gained 122 receiving yards on 5 receptions with 2 touchdown catches, and also had a 79-yard kickoff return for another score.  Adam Tice-Saliu also had a 100-yard receiving game with 9 catches for 105 yards.

Ripperda crossed the 100-yard rushing mark with 102 yards on 28 carries and 1 touchdown.  Defensively, Chaikou Sow had a game-high 15 tackles and Kyzer Bowen added 11 stops.  Winston Amankwah and Tyce Miller added interceptions, and Riley Roberts joined Jake Ovanic with sacks on the day.

Taylor rushed for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns, and also completed 17-of-37 passes for 199 yards and 2 more scores.  Beachem Jr. added 145 rushing yards on 21 carries with a touchdown.

Mount St. Joseph advances to the NCAA Division III Playoffs after a perfect 10-0 regular season.  Rose-Hulman completed its season with a 6-4 record.