Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

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updated 10/05/2009

Manchester Holds Off Late Rose Football Rally in 20-17 Win

Scott Eaton had 12 solo tackles among his 15 stops at Manchester on Saturday (photo - Shirley Davis),

N. MANCHESTER, IND. - Manchester College withstood a late charge by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to earn a 20-17 football victory on Saturday.

Senior Derek Eitel (Marshall, Ill.) threw for 198 yards and one touchdown in the contest to lead the offense. The 198 yards advances his career total passing yards to 6,122 yards, making him just the second person to reach over 6,000 yards passing in school history. He also scrambled for a touchdown.

Junior Reed Eason (St. Louis, Mo/Parkway North) led the receivers with 84 yards on six receptions and one touchdown.

Freshman Kyle Kovach (Munster/Andrean) rushed for 67 yards and had two receptions for 42 yards on the day to total over 100 yards of offense for the Engineers.

Derek Eitel eclipsed 6,000 passing yards for his career as he threw for 198 yards in a loss to Manchester.
(photo - Shirley Davis)

Justin Minnich led the Manchester rushing day with 119 yards on 20 carries. Brandon Wells also scampered for 86 yards for the Spartans.

Junior Scott Eaton (Fishers/Hamilton Southeastern) led the Rose-Hulman defensive effort with another 15 tackle day, the fourth 15-tackle game of his career. Eaton also took down the quarterback to record a sack in the effort.

Senior Patrick Duncan (Terre Haute, Ind./South Vigo) also helped out by making nine stops in the game. Senior Andrew Couch (Glendora, Calif./Citrus College), junior Kyle Stevens (Santa Cruz, Calif./Harbor) and senior Ben Wassel (Robinson, Ill) added seven tackles each.

Rose-Hulman took an early lead as they took their second possession of the game. The Engineers marched 73 yards on 11 plays to score on a 34 yard touchdown pass from Eitel to Eason. Manchester answered right back as the Spartans took the kickoff 41 yards to set up a Minnich rushing touchdown to tie the score 7-7 to end the first quarter.

Manchester was able to kick a 27 yard field goal as the half ended to take a 10-7 lead going into halftime after holding the Engineers without significant progress in the second quarter.

Kyle Kovach had more than 100 yards in total yardage on the day. (photo - Shirley Davis)

Manchester then came out of halftime to score another field goal on their first possession of the second half off a 37 yard field goal by Brandon Wells. Rose-Hulman answered with a field goal of their own, a 25-yarder from sophomore Nick Schneider (Naperville, Ill/Neuque Valley). The Spartans responded quickly to score another touchdown as Wells scored on a 16-yard rush to push the score 20-10 after the extra point.

Rose-Hulman again had trouble getting anything going after the Spartan touchdown until late in the fourth quarter when they set up a 22 yard field goal. However, a big play by the Spartan defense blocked the field goal to keep the score 20-10 and give the ball back to Manchester.

After stopping the Spartans on three straight rushes, the Engineers were able to get the ball back with three minutes left on the clock after a short punt put them on the Manchester 38-yard line. The Engineers were able to score in just 54 seconds as Eitel was able to run from one yard out to make the score 20-17 after the extra point.

The ensuing onside kick failed as Manchester was able to recover and run out the clock to end the game.

With the loss Rose-Hulman now falls to 2-3 on the season, 0-2 in the HCAC. The Engineers will return to action next Saturday, October 10, with a conference game against Hanover College.