Engineers routed by athletic Franklin team

The Engineer football team lost 56-26 to Franklin College Saturday in a game dominated by Franklin’s air attack, which netted 643 receiving yards to Rose-Hulman’s 351. Franklin quarterback Chad Rupp was centerpiece of Franklin’s offensive effort, throwing five touchdown passes and completing 25 of 32 passes for a total of 399 yards. Franklin’s ground game was spearheaded by R.J. Hartsfield, who ran for three touchdowns and totaled 105 net rushing yards.

Posting impressive statistics for the Engineers were Thomas Reives, whose only reception of the game bought the Engineers 55 yards and fell heartbreakingly short of a touchdown; Jeremy Sharp, whose career-long 43 yard field goal got the Engineers off to an early lead in the first quarter; Calvin Bueltel, who ran a monstrous 43 yards for an Engineer touchdown late in the fourth quarter; and Bill Guiney, who led the defensive game with seven tackles and two assists.

The game was punctuated by frequent break-aways by Franklin’s ball carriers, which once free of the Engineer secondary, were too fast to be caught by pursuing defensemen. On offense, quarterback Derek Eitel was often forced to get rid of the ball long before Engineer passing routes reached maturity as Franklin’s defensive line quickly dissolved the pocket and penetrated the Engineer offensive line. Rose-Hulman suffered yet another blow when deep threat Reives suffered a leg injury late in the first half and was walked off the field.

Photo: Isaac Sachs Junior Bryan Wong led the Engineers with 66 yards against Franklin.

Rose-Hulman’s inability to convert red zone opportunities to touchdowns also prevented the Engineer offense from keeping up with the Franklin powerhouse, a fact that was only matched by Franklin’s excellent record in the same area, being finally forced to kick a field goal for the first time four minutes into the fourth quarter.

The game brings Rose-Hulman’s season record to 5-3 and conference record to 2-3.