TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology relied on five interceptions, six sacks and 408 yards in total offense to top Mount St. Joseph 35-10 in the 2017 Homecoming Game at Cook Stadium on Saturday.
Andrew Dion led the offense with a 16-29 performance through the air for 191 yards and three touchdowns. Stanley Hogan paced a ground attack that rushed for 217 yards with 71 yards on 14 carries. Garrett Wight added 61 rushing yards, and Noah Thomas rushed for a 12-yard fourth down touchdown in the opening quarter. Wight led the receivers with 80 yards on five catches, with Zack Murphy adding four catches for 77 yards and Raymond Burtnick hauling in his ninth touchdown catch of the year.
Defensively, Rose-Hulman pressured the Mount St. Joseph quarterbacks all game long in recording six total turnovers and six sacks. Mike Henry led the team with seven tackles, and Mike Riley added six tackles, 1.5 sacks and two tackles-for-loss. Alec Thompson recorded two interceptions and a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown, and teammates Kaelen Garner, Jon Poore and Tyler Brutofsky had one interception each.
On the defensive line, Bryce Mefford, Zach Kanz, Coleson Carmell and Tyler Stewart had one sack each. The pressure was also shown on special teams, as Thompson and Garner each blocked a field goal on the day.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead after the first quarter. Dion connected with Wight on a 57-yard touchdown pass to cap a three-play opening drive and give the Fightin' Engineers a 7-0 lead with 14:04 left in the first quarter.
The lead reached 14-0 on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Dion to Burtnick just five minutes into the game. After two more Rose-Hulman stops, the Fightin' Engineers pushed the edge to 21-0 on a 12-yard run by Thomas on 4th-and-1 with 1:35 left in the opening quarter.
Mount St. Joseph had the lone score of the second quarter to move within 21-7 at the half. Chaiten Tomlin connected with Grayson Roberts on a 31-yard strike that would be the Lions only touchdown of the day.
The second half scoring started with a 57-yard connection from Dion to Murphy to cap a quick-strike, two-play drive to increase the lead to 28-7. Just 15 seconds later, Thompson snagged an interception on the right sideline and sprinted 30 yards for a score that put Rose-Hulman ahead 35-7 and secured the team's fourth straight conference win.
Rose-Hulman improved to 5-1 on the season and 4-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, while Mount St. Joseph dropped to 3-3 and 2-2 in league games. The Fightin' Engineers hit the road for in-state conference foe Manchester University next week.