LANDSBERG, GERMANY -- The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology football team produced the highlight of its trip to Switzerland, Austria and Germany with an 82-0 victory over the Landsberg X-Press in the Anniversary Bowl in Landsberg, Germany, on Saturday afternoon.
Garrett Wight led the Fightin' Engineer offense with two touchdown rushes and one TD reception. Austin Swenson passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third, and the Fightin' Engineer defense recorded a shutout in the victory.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter. Tyler Brutofsky started the scoring with a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown, followed by a Matt Murray extra point. Wight then scored on touchdown rushes of 11 yards and 4 yards, followed by Murray extra points.
The lead reached 28-0 in the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Swenson to Luke Kopecky, with an extra point from Andrew Peck.
Rose-Hulman added three more first half touchdowns to take a 48-0 advantage at the half. Eric Morris scored on a 24-yard touchdown run, Swenson scored from 16 yards out, and Swenson connected with Zack Murphy on a 21-yard touchdown pass.
In the second half, Chris Johannigman connected with Wight on an 18-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring. Every Fightin' Engineer in uniform played significant time in the contest, and the defense pitched a shutout led by an interception from John Kirby.
Arriving in Switzerland on May 29, the team toured the city of Interlaken and hiked through the Jungfrau Valley to open their nine-day trip. Sites also included the world famous Neuschwanstein Castle. The team arrived in Munich for two days, including a siteseeing city tour prior to the game. The trip concludes with two days in Vienna, Austria on Sunday and Monday.
Rose-Hulman conducted this trip through Global Football, an organization created by Anthony Travel. Since 1996, Global Football has created and produced American football games and events in 21 different nations around the world and is organizing return tours in 2017. Global Football will hold events in Germany, Japan and Panama over the next year.
Rose-Hulman took the field for the first time since making its first NCAA Division III playoff appearance last November in a loss at North Central. The Fightin' Engineers won the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship and finished 8-3 in 2016, highlighted by a win at No. 14 ranked Franklin to secure its NCAA bid.
The 2017 Rose-Hulman football season begins Sept. 2, when the Fightin' Engineers travel to Illinois College.