Robby Alumbaugh snagged this second quarter interception and scored a defensive touchdown.

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TERRE HAUTE, IND. - Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to close within seven points in the fourth quarter, but Mount St. Joseph held on to earn a 45-38 win in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football opener on Saturday.

The Homecoming shootout featured more than 1,000 yards of total offense. 

Senior Derek Eitel (Marshall, Ill.) led the Rose-Hulman offense with a 31-42 passing performance for a career-high 364 yards.  Eitel's performance marked the third most completions and fourth most passing yards in a game in Fightin' Engineer history.

Graduate student Thomas Reives (Indianapolis/Arsenal Tech) added a career-high 149 receiving yards on nine receptions, and junior Reed Eason (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) hauled in eight catches for 70 yards.  Junior Adam Somerall (Birmingham, Ala./Mountain Brook) contributed five receptions for 54 yards and two touchdowns.

Kyle Kovach scored two touchdowns and crossed the 100-yard mark for the second time this year.

Freshman Kyle Kovach (Munster/Andrean) crossed the 100-yard mark in rushing for the second time this season with 139 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns.  Kovach sprinted 70 yards for a first quarter touchdown and also scored from 17 yards out to cap the first drive of the day.

Jake Davis paced the Mount St. Joseph offense with 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns, along with 115 receiving yards and another score.  Noah Joseph rushed for 87 yards and three touchdowns, and Craig Mustard finished 10-20 for 263 yards and one touchdown for the Lions.

Junior Scott Eaton (Fishers/Hamilton Southeastern) led the defensive effort with 15 tackles, the third 15-tackle game of his career.  Senior Kyle Stevens (Santa Cruz, Calif./Harbor) contributed nine stops and junior linebacker Andrew Couch (Glendora, Calif./Citrus College) had seven stops.  Junior Robby Alumbaugh (Mooresville) provided the big play with a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown and also had six solo hits.

Thomas Reives gained 149 yards on nine receptions.

Mount St. Joseph took the opening kickoff and drove 58 yards in eight plays to take an early 7-0 lead on a nine-yard score by Davis.  The Engineers answered with a six-play, 67-yard drive of their own to tie the score at 7-7 on a 17-yard run by Kovach.

Less than two minutes later, Rose-Hulman gained possession following a punt and Kovach sprinted 70 yards for another touchdown to give the Engineers a 14-7 lead.

Alumbaugh stepped in front of a Mount St. Joseph receiver and returned an interception 38 yards for a score to give Rose-Hulman a 21-7 edge with 2:30 left in the opening quarter.

Mount St. Joseph closed out the first quarter scoring with a 69-yard pass from Mustard to Davis.  The Lions would dictate play in the middle two quarters to earn a 38-21 lead after touchdown runs by Davis and Joseph.

Rose-Hulman moved to within 10 points at 38-28 midway through the third quarter on a 15-yard scoring strike from Eitel to Somerall.  Mount St. Joseph pushed its edge to 45-28 on a one-yard run by Joseph with 3:29 left in the frame.

Derek Eitel passed for a career-high 364 yards.

The Fightin' Engineers moved to within 45-31 at the end of the third quarter, when junior Nick Schneider (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) booted a 22-yard field goal to cap a nine-play drive.

Rose-Hulman relied on a stop and a 14-play, 85-yard drive to close the margin to 45-38 with 4:26 left on another 15-yard connection from Eitel to Somerall.  The Engineers held Mount St. Joseph after one first down to have one final possession, but Jerrick Boykin hauled in an interception to secure the Lions victory.

Mount St. Joseph improved to 3-0 on the season, while Rose-Hulman dropped to 2-2.  The Engineers travel to Manchester College next Saturday afternoon.