ANDERSON, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology crossed the 80-point mark in a football game for the first time since 1913 with an 81-13 victory over Anderson University on Saturday afternoon.
Rose-Hulman improved to 4-0 for the second consecutive year and stands 2-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play. The Fightin' Engineers scored 39 points in the first quarter, 60 in the first half and 21 in the second half in the convincing victory.
Rose-Hulman combined for six touchdown passes, four touchdown runs and one defensive touchdown in the victory. Junior Austin Swenson led the offense by finishing 11-18 through the air for 137 yards and five touchdowns. Senior Jacob Dye hauled in two touchdown receptions, and junior Alec Fisher tied Rose-Hulman's career school record with 24 touchdown catches with a pair of his own.
Four different rushers scored touchdowns on the afternoon, led by sophomore Kevin Dufauchard with 69 rushing yards and one score. Senior Blair Briscoe added 59 rushing yards and one score, and sophomore Michael Iacono had 28 rushing yards and one score.
Freshman quarterback Sam Grant came off the bench to finish 7-10 through the air for 55 yards and also rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown. Junior Joe Moehrle led the receiving effort with 69 yards on three receptions and one score. Dye had 39 receiving yards and two scores, while Zack Murphy gained 34 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, senior Chris Sander had a monster game with a 42-yard interception return, a 14-yard fumble recovery, two froced fumbles, and two tackles-for-loss at 35 yards. Connor Kispert added 3.5 tackles-for-loss, one sack and one forced fumble, and senior Tyler Rockwood snagged an interception.
Zach Kanz and Mike Henry led the Rose-Hulman defense with seven tackles each, and Kacper Kulesza had six. The Fightin' Engineers held Anderson to just nine first downs in the win.
Overall, Rose-Hulman outgained Anderson 485 yards to 124 in the victory. The defensive line held the Ravens to -53 yards rushing with four sacks.
Rose-Hulman opened the game with 39 points in the first quarter to secure an early lead. Swenson and Fisher opened the scoring with a four-yard touchdown strike at the 10:52 mark. With 8:24 left, Iacono scored from five yards out. Dufauchard pushed the lead to 22-0 on a two-yard run and a two-point conversion rush from Alec Thompson.
Swenson and Moehrle connected on a 40-yard touchdown to push the lead to 29-0. Swenson and Dye hooked up on a five-yard scoring strike with 2:45 left for Rose-Hulman's 36th point of the quarter. Senior Craig Larew capped the first quarter with a 28-yard field goal on the final play.
Rose-Hulman scored three more touchdowns in the second quarter to gain a 60-0 lead, before Anderson scored on a 45-yard scoring strike in the last few seconds of the half. Sander scored on a 42-yard interception return, Swenson and Fisher connected on a four-yard TD pass, and Swenson hit Dye from 35 yards at the 5:27 mark of the second quarter.
In the second half, Rose-Hulman used numerous players, as eight Fightin' Engineers garnered rushing attempts and nine different receivers made at least one reception.
Rose-Hulman improved to 4-0 on the season and travels to Bluffton University next Saturday for another conference matchup.