Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

One of the nation's top undergraduate
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updated 09/06/2008

Last Minute Touchdown Leads Rose-Hulman Past Earlham

Calvin Bueltel breaks away from Earlham defenders for a kickoff return touchdown in the first half.

TERRE HAUTE, IND. – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology retained the Battle of the Borders broadsword with a last minute touchdown to earn a 42-35 victory over Earlham College in the 2008 football opener for both schools on Saturday night.

The shootout featured nearly 800 yards of total offense, a key kickoff return for a touchdown and timely defense that resulted in four Earlham turnovers.

Junior Derek Eitel (Marshall, Ill.) finished 14-25 through the air for 139 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rose-Hulman offense. Junior Calvin Bueltel (Huntingburg/Southridge) added 150 yards on three kickoff returns and led the ground attack with 27 rushing yards.

Senior Tim Schrock (Avon) led the receiving corps with four catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, sophomore Scott Eaton (Fishers/Hamilton Southeastern) led Rose-Hulman with 13 tackles, including eight solo efforts. Junior Kyle Stevens (Santa Cruz, Calif./Harbor) added 11 tackles and two interceptions, with senior Jonas Troyer (Peru/Maconaquah) adding a fumble recovery and senior Brian Zemina (Riverview, Fla./East Bay) recording an interception.

The Earlham offense was led by quarterback Randy Kerns, who completed 30-44 passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns despite three interceptions. Kyle Ripperger led the receivers with 176 yards on 10 catches and Ben Marschand rushed for 72 yards and a pair of scores for the Quakers.

Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 14-0 lead with two early touchdowns. Schrock scored on a 20-yard pass from Eitel with 6:30 left in the opening quarter to cap a seven-play, 59-yard march.

The second touchdown came on some Rose-Hulman trickery. Sophomore tight end Reed Eason (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) took a reverse hand off and tossed a 30-yard pass to senior Nate Richter (Zionsville), who broke one tackle and scored from 48 yards out with 13:21 left in the half.

Earlham closed to within 14-7 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Kerns to Ripperger at the 8:39 mark of the quarter. The Engineers answered with a score of their own on an eight-yard run by Eitel to cap a 10-play scoring drive.

Earlham scored again to move within 21-14 with 1:48 left in the opening half on a 33-yard run by Ben Marschand. The ensuing kickoff was returned 92 yards for a touchdown by Bueltel to give Rose-Hulman a 28-14 advantage at the half.

Earlham rallied to tie the score at 28-28 with two touchdowns early in the second half. Randy Kerns threw a pair of touchdown passes, one of 36 yards to Bryant Foreman and another of 22 yards to Chris Owens with 11:51 left in the fourth quarter.

Rose-Hulman responded with a touchdown with 5:31 remaining to regain the lead at 35-28. Schrock and Eitel connected on their second touchdown pass of the night to cap a seven-play, 51-yard drive.

Earlham answered with another game tying touchdown to knot the score at 35-35 with 2:42 left. The six-play, 66-yard drive ended with a one-yard run by Marschand.

After the Engineers were stopped on downs, Eason booted a punt that went out of bounds on the eight-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Stevens snagged an interception on a tipped pass by Eaton and returned the ball to the eight-yard line.

Three players later, Eitel scored on a quarterback sneak to give Rose-Hulman the 42-35 lead with 13 seconds left. A last second hail mary pass fell incomplete and the Engineers earned the Battle of the Borders broadsword for the eighth consecutive year with the victory.

Rose-Hulman stands 1-0 on the season and returns to action at North Park University next weekend. Earlham dropped to 0-1 on the campaign and plays at Manchester next week.