TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology came inches away from victory in a heartbreaking 27-26 overtime loss to Mount St. Joseph on Senior Day at Cook Stadium.
The teams battled to a 20-20 tie through the end of regulation, forcing Rose-Hulman's first overtime game since early in the 2014 season. Mount St. Joseph quarterback Mike Williams scored on an 11-yard touchdown run on the Lions overtime possession, and Shane Kelly booted the extra point to put the Lions ahead 27-20.
Playing its third quarterback of the day, Rose-Hulman answered with a dramatic touchdown on its overtime possession to close within 27-26. Sophomore Chris Johannigman converted two fourth down passes to put the Engineers in the endzone. The first was an 11-yard pass to Michael Iacono out of the backfield to move the chains. The second was caught by Aaron Abbott for an 11-yard touchdown on 4th-and-9 to bring Rose-Hulman within a point.
The Fightin' Engineers went for the win and the two-point conversion in overtime. Abbott took his 12th rush of the day and with little room available to run, Abbott dove for the pylon and the two-point conversion. He was stopped inches shy of the ball grazing the pylon, securing Mount St. Joseph's 27-26 win.
Sophomore Kevin Dufauchard was the Rose-Hulman workhorse on the day, keeping the Fightin' Engineers within striking distance. Dufauchard recorded the second-most single-game rushes in school history with 46 carries for 192 yards and one touchdown. Johannigman led the passing attack at 8-14 for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
Abbott hauled in five receptions for 48 yards and one touchdown and also rushed for 20 yards on 11 carries. Junior Joe Moehrle had a game-high 66 receiving yards and a 59-yard touchdown catch, and senior Jacob Dye hauled in four catches for 50 yards.
Defensively, junior Connor Kispert led Rose-Hulman with six tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks. Sophomore Mike Henry had six tackles, and several players had five stops each. Tyler Brutofsky and Alec Thompson snagged interceptions to keep the Fightin' Engineers in the contest.
Charles McCall led the Mount St. Joseph ground attack with 111 rushing yards, while Williams rushed for three TDs and 89 yards on the day. The Engineer defense held Williams to 4-14 through the air for 102 yards and had six sacks on the day. Jermaine Drake had a team-high 22 tackles to pace the Mount St. Joseph defense.
Dufauchard open the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run to cap a 13-play, 78-yard scoring drive early in the first quarter. Williams answered with a one-yard run to knot the score at 7-7.
Senior Craig Larew booted a 32-yard field goal to push Rose-Hulman ahead 10-7 early in the second quarter. Mount St. Joseph relied on a safety to close within 10-9 at the half.
Mount St. Joseph took a 17-10 lead in the third quarter on a three-yard Williams scoring run and a two-point coversion. Rose-Hulman answered to tie the score at 17-17 on the 59-yard pass from Johannigman to Moehrle.
Rose-Hulman gained a 20-17 lead with 9:37 remaining after a 16-play drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal by Larew. Mount St. Joseph scored the last points of regulation to tie the score at 20-20 with 5:23 left.
Prior to the game, Rose-Hulman honored a senior class including Aaron Abbott, Doug Bickel, Blair Briscoe, T.J. Demos, Jacob Dye, Josh Hoptry, Craig Larew, Michael Laritz, Matt Pansera, Jordan Patterson, Tyler Rockwood, Chris Sander, Clark Schultz, Kevin Trizna, D.J. Turner-Smith, Joseph Woodley and manager Cody Hamelberg.
Rose-Hulman stands 7-2 on the season and 5-2 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, while Mount St. Joseph improved to 6-3 and 6-2 in league games. The Fightin' Engineers can secure a share of second place in the conference standings with a win at Earlham next weekend.