Yellow Jackets Fall to Engineers on Homecoming

DEFIANCE, OHIO  --  Sophomore quarterback Alex Larson (Highland, Mich./Milford) accounted for 207 of Defiance's 307 yards of total offense, but the Yellow Jackets would fall 28-12 to Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Coressel Stadium on Homecoming.

With the loss, the Yellow Jackets fall to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the HCAC.  The Fightin' Engineers improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 HCAC.

Larson completed nine-of-23 passes for 134 yards with one touchdown, but had two interceptions.  He was also the team's leading rusher with a game-high 73 yards on 14 carries.  Sophomore Cody Wilson led all players in receiving yards with 81 on four catches.  Sophomore Jarius Harper (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee) caught the lone TD pass from Larson and ended the day with three receptions for 35 yards.

Defense was the name of the game for Defiance in the first quarter as an interception on the Yellow Jacket's first possession of the game gave the Engineers the ball at the DC 27-yard line.  The Jackets held strong and the RHIT drive ended in a four-and-out, keeping the game scoreless.  Just past the midway point of the opening quarter, the Defiance defense came up strong again as RHIT drove to the DC 10-yard line, but again the Jacket defense held firm on a fourth-and-one attempt to keep the game scoreless after the first 15 minutes.

Following the defensive stand to end the first period, DC then put together a lenghty 13-play, 85-yard scoring drive that ate up 7:15 and ended on a one-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Garrett Teague (Webberville, Mich./Webberville).  The ensuing extra point attempt would be blocked, but the Jackets still led, 6-0.  RHIT answered the Defiance scoring drive with a scoring drive of its own marching 69-yards in nine plays on its ensuing possession with the touchdown coming on a four-yard pass play giving the Engineers a 7-6 lead.  The lead didn't last long, however, as the Jackets came right back and struck again to regain the advantage on a 34-yard pass play from Larson to Harper with 3:08 left in the half.  Defiance missed the extra-point attempt for a second time, leaving the score at 12-7.  RHIT looked to take the lead again just before the end of the half and got to the DC 17-yard line, but would be forced to attempt a 35-yard field goal that sailed wide right and kept the margin at 12-7 heading into the locker rooms.

The Defiance "D" opened the second half with a three-out-possession by RHIT, but momentum then swung in favor of the Engineers when Larson was picked off by Rose-Hulman's Tyler Brutofsky at the Engineer 42-yard line and returned it 58 yards for the TD which gave RHIT a 14-12 advantage at the 12:33 minute mark.  The Jacket offense would not recover from the "pick 6" as the Engineers added another score on its next drive, this time scoring on a one-yard TD scamper to extend the lead to 21-12.  Defiance had one final scoring opportunity late in the quarter with a field goal attempt from 39 yards out, but the kick went wide right and the deficit remained nine points heading into the fourth quarter.

Rose-Hulman put the game away early in the fourth with a 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive that was capped by a two-yard TD run with 10:18 left in the game.  The drive looked to be ended early on the first play from scrimmage in the period when Defiance sophomore Kenny Jones (Toledo/Bowsher) intercepted a pass, but was called for pass interference, keeping the drive going for the Engineers and later resulted in the score.  Neither team added any more points the rest of the way as RHIT went on to claim the 28-12 victory.

The Engineers ended the game with 329 yards of offense (96 rushing and 233 passing).  Quarterback Austin Swenson completed 22-of-28 passes for 233 yards to go along with a TD.  Greg Lee led the RHIT ground attack with 63 yards on 19 carries and one score.  Wideout Aaron Abbott caught a game-high seven passes for 69 yards.  Defensively, Kevin Nowak and Chris Sander led the way with 12 and 10 tackles respectively.  Nowak also added 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception.

Defensively for Defiance, senior linebacker Eric Strickland (West Palm Beach, Fla./Seminole Ridge) and freshman Greg Ward, Jr. (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) both had eight tackles to lead the team.  

The Yellow Jackets will look to get back on track next Saturday, Oct. 25 when they travel to Richmond, Ind. for a HCAC matchup against Earlham (Ind.) College.  Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m.