HANOVER, Ind. -- The Fightin' Engineers traveled to face Hanover on Saturday. Rose-Hulman was able to steal a victory over the Panthers with a final score of 27-20. This advances the team to 5-2 overall and keeps them undefeated at 3-0 in the HCAC.
Brock Zanetell had an incredible performance for Rose-Hulman, finishing the game by throwing 21-for-38 for 239 passing yards. His real impact came in the run game, totaling a team-high 156 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Alexander Marsteller was another productive rusher for Rose with 21 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Avery Cody was the top wide receiver with seven catches for 101 yards.
The Rose-Hulman defense was led by
William Fleck with six tackles and one sack.
Anthony Mauro also totaled six tackles and added one fumble recovery.
Jack LeCrone and
Joseph Coveliers also recorded one sack each for the Fightin' Engineers.
The Rose defense made their presence felt from the start. On the Panthers' first drive,
Austin Hastings punched the ball out to force a fumble that was recovered by Mauro.
After driving all the way down to the Hanover 2-yardline, Rose-Hulman was unable to punch the ball in on fourth down and turned the ball over on downs. The Fightin' Engineers defense forced a punt to give the ball back to the offense at their own 42-yard line with 4:52 left in the first quarter.
Cohen Peters got the team on the board after the Rose offense drove 39 yards in six plays to set up a 45-yard field goal. The Fightin' Engineers would hold the lead, 3-0, at the end of the opening quarter.
The Panthers answered with a scoring drive of their own, going 58 yards in nine plays to score a touchdown to take the lead, 7-3.
After another Cohen field goal made the score 7-6, Hanover added another touchdown and a field goal to stand ahead 17-6 at the halftime break.
At the end of the third quarter, Rose-Hulman was able to decrease the deficit. The team drove 91 yards in 15 plays to eat up six minutes and six seconds on the clock to force the ball into the end zone on a one-yard rush by Marsteller. The score decreased the Hanover lead to 17-12 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.
The Fightin' Engineers offense got the ball back at the start of the fourth quarter with a chance to drive down the field and take the lead for the first time since the first quarter.
Rose went 80 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 29-yard rush by Zanetell, bursting through the middle of the field and racing to the pylon for the score. Zanetell connected with
Joseph Culotta on the two-point conversion to make the score 20-17 with 9:32 remaining in the game.
After back-to-back punts, Hanover got the ball on their own 15-yardline with 4:54 on the clock. The Panthers drove all the way down the field to set up a 29-yard field goal to tie the game.
Rudy Griffing broke through the line and blocked the kick, protecting the Rose-Hulman lead and preventing the Panthers from tying the score.
Rose-Hulman got the ball back on their own 21-yardline with 1:32 left in the game. On the first play of the drive, Zanetell fooled the Hanover defense on a fake handoff, keeping the ball himself and breaking free down the right sideline to reach the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown. The score made it a two-score game with Rose-Hulman ahead 27-17.
Hanover drove down the field to kick a field goal and cut the lead to 27-20, but the Panthers would ultimately run out of time and suffer their first HCAC loss of the year.
Rose now stands alone at the top of the HCAC standings with the only undefeated record in the league.
The Fightin' Engineers football team will return home to host Manchester in HCAC action on Saturday, October 31, at 2 PM for Senior Day.
