Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology improved to 7-1 on the season and 5-1 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action with a 35-28 win at Manchester University on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Austin Swenson led a 458-yard offensive attack by completing 24-of-34 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns for Rose-Hulman. Junior Alec Fisher was Swenson's top target on the day, hauling in nine receptions for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Jacob Dye added six catches for 50 yards.
Sophomore Kevin Dufauchard helped balance the offensive attack with 95 rushing yards and one touchdown. Senior Aaron Abbott pitched in with nine carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, senior Chris Sander and sophomore Kaelen Garner led the Rose-Hulman defense with eight tackles each. Sophomore Alec Thompson added a game clinching interception on Manchester's final drive. The Fightin' Engineers held the Spartans to just 15-33 through the air for 97 passing yards in the victory.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its opening drive, an 11-play march that ended on a one-yard run by Dufauchard. Manchester tied the score in the final minute of the first quarter on a five-yard scoring pass from Tristan Chester to Hunter Hardee.
The Fightin' Engineers built their lead up to 21-7 at halftime on two second quarter touchdowns. Swenson and Fisher connected on a 36-yard scoring strike with 8:39 left in the opening half to make the lead 14-7. Abbott added a five-yard scoring run with 5:45 remaining in the quarter.
Manchester responded with two straight touchdowns to tie the score at 21-21. Chester scored on a five-yard touchdown run early in the second half, and Dillon Nelson ran an interception back 61 yards for a score to tie the contest midway through the third quarter.
Rose-Hulman answered with a score of its own, as Abbott had his second rushing touchdown of the day on a four-yard touchdown with 4:21 left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Rose-Hulman marched 10 plays and 72 yards before Swenson and Fisher hooked up on a 20-yard touchdown catch. The touchdown strike pushed Rose-Hulman's lead to 35-21 with 5:09 left.
Manchester fought back with another touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Chester to Brandon Webb at the 2:10 mark. Rose-Hulman senior Craig Larew punted the Spartans inside the five-yard line to start their final possession, and Thompson secured the win with an interception.
Rose-Hulman improved to 7-1 and remains second in the HCAC standings at 5-1. Manchester dropped to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in league play. The Fightin' Engineers host Mount St. Joseph on Senior Day next Saturday (Nov. 7) at Cook Stadium.