TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers football team defeated Franklin on Saturday during Homecoming Weekend with a final score of 42-34. This moves the team to 3-1 overall this season and 1-0 in the HCAC.
Brock Zanetell had a very productive day. He finished the game going 20-for-27 with 211 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
Alexander Marsteller was the star rusher, finishing the game with 116 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Avery Cody was the top receiver, ending the contest with five catches for 84 yards and one receiving touchdown.
Joseph Coveliers led the defense with 10 tackles and 0.5 sacks.
Rudy Griffing was exceptional with four tackles and two interceptions, including one pick-six.
The Franklin Grizzlies started the game with a promising drive. The team drove all the way down to the Rose-Hulman 26-yard line before the Rose-Hulman defense flipped the script. Griffing jumped in front of a pass and intercepted the ball, returning it 78 yards for a Rose-Hulman touchdown to make the score 7-0.
After another stop by the Rose-Hulman defense, the Fightin' Engineers started their first offensive drive of the game on their own 30-yard line. Rose drove 70 yards in 12 plays to reach the end zone on an 11-yard pass from Zanetell to
Joseph Culotta to extend the lead to 14-0.
Franklin answered with a drive of their own on the next possession. The Grizzlies went 75 yards in six plays to score a touchdown. After a blocked extra point, the Fightin' Engineers' lead stood at 14-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Rose-Hulman marched down the field once again on a 13-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Zanetell to make the score 21-6.
The team was able to sneak in one more score before the halftime break. Rose went 78 yards in eight plays, capped off by an eight-yard passing touchdown from Zanetell to Cody to build the Fightin' Engineers' lead to 28-6 at the half.
On Franklin's first drive of the second half, Griffing got his second interception of the day to take possession away from the Grizzlies. Rose capitalized with a seven-play, 59-yard drive that ended in a two-yard rushing touchdown by Marsteller to make the score 35-6.
Franklin made a strong effort to creep back into the game in the second half. The team scored twice in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 35-18.
Rose-Hulman answered with Marsteller punching the ball in for his second touchdown of the day from 12 yards out to extend the lead to 42-18 with 12:04 left in the final quarter.
The Grizzlies were not done yet. After back-to-back touchdown drives and two-point conversions, the team found themselves down by eight points with 7:08 left to play in the game and the score at 42-34.
Rose burned as much clock as they could on their next drive, picking up multiple first downs to try and end the game. Franklin got the ball back with 2:20 left on their own 20 yard line with a chance to drive down the field and tie the game.
The Rose-Hulman faithful were louder than ever, and the Fightin' Engineers' defense was fired up to make a big play for the Homecoming crowd.
Anthony Mauro was the hero, closing the door on the Grizzlies comeback with an interception to seal the win for the Fightin' Engineers.
The Fightin' Engineers will return to Cook Stadium to host Anderson on Saturday, October 10, at 2 PM.
