TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology honored 20 seniors and recorded its first shutout since 2006 with a 34-0 victory over Mount St. Joseph in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football action on Saturday.
Senior Ryan Landwehr (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe Valley) tossed three touchdown passes and finished 19-27 for 250 yards to lead the 384-yard offensive attack. Senior Danya Francis (Kissimmee, Fla./Celebration) added a pair of touchdown runs to provide the rest of the scoring.
Senior Connor Gerhart (La Mesa, Calif./La Jolla Country Day) had the top receiving yardage game of his career with six catches for 112 yards to lead the Engineers. Freshman Alec Fisher (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills), junior Zac Erba (Winona Lake, Ind./Warsaw) and senior Marcus Washington (Frankfort, Ky.) contributed touchdown catches to the effort.
Defensively, Rose-Hulman dominated Mount St. Joseph by forcing four turnovers and amassing six sacks to record its first shutout since a 25-0 win at North Park in 2006. Senior D.J. Lawson (Indianapolis/Pike) had two sacks and three tackles-for-loss, and senior Dean Griffing (Plano, Ill./Aurora Christian) added six tackles, three tackles-for-loss and one sack to lead the defensive line performance.
Freshman Kevin Nowak (Naperville, Ill./Central) and senior Craig Voges (Huntingburg/Forest Park) grabbed interceptions, and senior Mark Fitz (Fort Worth, Texas/Eastern Hills) joined sophomore Anthony Adamo (Chino, Calif.) with fumble recoveries in the performance.
Mount St. Joseph was held to just 48 yards rushing on 37 carries and 273 total yards of offense on the afternoon. Mike Williams finished 16-31 through the air for 168 yards, and Leonard Riston made eight receptions for 77 yards to lead the Lions offense. The Engineers were able to end the game with 11 defensive seniors on the field to secure the shutout.
Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its opening drive. The Fightin' Engineers marched 52 yards in eight plays, before Francis scored from one yard out to put Rose-Hulman up at the 12:44 mark of the opening quarter, before senior Matt Angel (Cassville, Mo.) hit the first of four extra points on the day.
The lead reached 14-0 after a Nowak interception gave the Fightin' Engineers possession on the seven-yard line. Landwehr connected with Erba on a seven-yard scoring strike on the next play to make the margin 14-0 with 5:53 left in the first quarter.
Rose-Hulman added a third touchdown in the opening quarter. The team marched 73 yards in nine plays, with Francis scoring from two yards out to push the lead to 21-0 in the last minute of the first quarter.
The second drive of the second quarter pushed Rose-Hulman's lead to 27-0. Landwehr and Washington connected on a touchdown pass from six yards out to cap a seven-play, 48-yard march with 8:00 left in the first half.
Rose-Hulman scored again in the final minute of the first half to take a 34-0 lead into the locker room. The 64-yard, five-play march ended with a 14-yard pass from Landwehr to Fisher.
The Fightin' Engineers also honored 20 seniors prior to their final game at Cook Stadium. Seniors honored in the pregame included Angel, Kie Bates, John Burt, T.J. Chin, Chad Compton, Fitz, Francis, Gerhart, Kris Geyer-Roberts, Griffing, Landwehr, Lawson, Corbin Oliver, Robert Recine, Cody Rivers, Eric Schaible, Randy Soriano, Marcus Tucker, Voges and Washington.
Rose-Hulman improved to 5-3 on the season and 5-1 in HCAC play, while Mount St. Joseph dropped to 5-3 and 5-2 in league play. The Fightin' Engineers travel to Anderson University next Saturday.