TERRE HAUTE — Hanover had the edge in total yardage but Rose-Hulman had more big plays and defeated the Panthers 41-38 in a Heartland College Athletic Conference football game Saturday afternoon at Cook Stadium.
The Engineers got the final score of the game played in sunny, cool conditions and the final score with no time remaining in the first half to snap a three-game losing streak and even their record at 3-3.
Freshman quarterback C.J. Croft passed for all five of Hanover’s touchdowns and hooked up with Adam Miller for a 28-yard pass play to put the Panthers up 38-34 with 9 minutes, 30 seconds to play.
The Engineers moved into Hanover territory on the ensuing possession but had their rally ended when Nick Faris picked off a Derek Eitel pass.
The Rose-Hulman defense held and began its next possession on its own 25 following a 10-yard holding penalty.
On the very first play, Eitel threw deep to Thomas Rieves and the Engineers were in business at the Hanover 12-yard line.
“There were a couple underneath routes the coaches wanted me to hit. I just decided it was time to take a shot and try to win this game. Thomas made a great play on it. I had good protection and had time to throw it. Everybody did the right thing on the play … it is a team game,” said Eitel.
Two plays later, Eitel carried the football to the 4 for a first down to set up the game-winning touchdown, a 1-yard run by Tyler Thornton, and Nick Schneider kicked the extra point to conclude the scoring but the Panthers still had time to score again with 1:55 left to play.
The Panthers began the drive on their own 31 and picked up one first down but failed to pick up the yardage needed for a second first down and the Engineers just had to run one play before running out the clock and celebrate victory.
“Thank goodness. Hanover has a very explosive team and did a good job on us defensively but we had some big plays. That was the difference. Everybody contributed and we found ways to stop them at the end of the game,” said coach Steve Engelhart, who now is 3-1 against Hanover.
Rose-Hulman had a 27-14 lead at halftime thanks to their fourth touchdown of the second half that came with no time left on the clock.
Leading 21-13 with 1:20 left in the first half, Rose-Hulman began its final drive of the half at its own 42-yard line but moved into Hanover territory on Eitel’s 22-yard pass to Reed Eason and picked up two more first downs to move to the 6.
With no time showing on the clock, Eitel scrambled and found Eason in the end zone to put the Engineers ahead 27-14. Schneider missed the extra point but Rose-Hulman had a 13-point lead against the potent Hanover offense.
Eitel said the Engineers were going to spike the ball and try a field goal but a Hanover defensive back tossed the ball after an incomplete pass and cost the team critical seconds.
“I was going to sneak it … Reed made a great play and got open. It was a really big momentum change, getting the touchdown and giving us the [13-point] lead,” said Eitel.
Eason, who doubles as the team’s punter, helped the Enginners win the field-position battle.
Rose-Hulman moved into Hanover territory on its first possession but was forced to punt. Eason’s punt was dead at the Hanover 3.
Neither team secured a first down on their next possessions and Eason’s second punt was dead on the Hanover 4. The Panthers advanced the football into Rose-Hulman territory on their next drive but punted again.
They regained the football in less than a minute when Corry Stewart picked off an Eitel pass and returned it to the Rose-Hulman 12. Croft completed a 12-yard pass to Daniel Passafiume and the Panthers had a 7-0 lead.
Croft ended up throwing for 287 yards and five touchdowns, four of them to Passafiume, who had 116 yards in 12 receptions. Croft also netted 126 of his team’s 187 rushing yards.
Two of the Croft-Passafiume touchdowns were sandwiched around a 30-yard field goal by Pavel Polochanin as the Panthers took a 31-27 lead to start the fourth frame.
Rose-Hulman freshman Kyle Kovach quickly put the Engineers back in the lead with a 76-yard kickoff return for a 34-31 lead with 13:37 to play. And the stage was set for the final stages of the shootout.
Kovach rushed for 153 yards, had 91 yards in kick returns and one return of a fumble for 12 yards for 256 all-purpose yards for the Engineers.
He said he never had returned a kickoff for a touchdown in high school at Munster where he also played baseball for the 2009 Class 4A state champs.
He moved into a starting spot in the backfield when Calvin Bueltel incurred a season-ending injury in the third game of the season.
“Calvin … took me under his wing and helped me a lot,” said Kovach.
Coach Englehart commented on the freshman.
“Kyle Kovach is amazing, just amazing . . for a freshman to come out and do what he did today. Today was our Hall of Fame Game. If he keeps playing as he is playng, he will be in the Hall of Fame someday,” he said after giving him the game ball.
Eitel passed for 170 yards and the first-half touchdown and needs just 27 yards to become the all-time passing leader at Rose-Hulman.
Rose-Hulman 41, Hanover 38
Hanover 7 7 10 14 — 38
Rose-Hulman 0 27 0 14 — 41
H — Passafiume 12 pass from Croft (Polochanin kick) 2:37 1Q
RH — Kovach 69 run (Schneider kick) 9:10 2Q
RH — Thornton 1 run (Schneider kick) 2:53 2Q
RH — Kovach 13 run (Schneider kick) 1:15 2Q
H — Passafiume 27 pass from Croft (Polochanin kick) 1:20 2Q
RH — Eason 2 pass from Eitel (kick failed) 0:00 2Q
H — Passafiume 17 pass from Croft (Polochanin kick) 12:08 3Q
H — Polochanin 30 FG 2:43 3Q
H — Passafiume 4 pass from Croft (Polochanin kick) 13:49 4Q
RH — Kovach 76 kickoff return (Schneider kick) 13:37 4Q
H — Miller 28 pass from Croft (Polochanin kick) 9:30 4Q
RH — Thornton 1 run (Schneider kick) 1:55 4Q
H R-H
First downs 30 18
Rushes-yards 38-175 40-187
Passing yards 287 170
Com-Att-Int 28-54-1 16-28-2
Return yards 17 36
Punts-avg. 4-32.5 5-33.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 11-84 8-65
Individual statistics
Rushing — Hanover: Croft 23-126, Zeck 9-45, Cook 6-4; Rose-Hulman: Kovach 21-153, Thornton 10-36, Eason 1-4, Gray 1-1, team 1-(-2), Eitel 6-(-5)
Passing — Hanover: Croft 28-54-1-287; Rose-Hulman Eitel 16-27-2-170, team 0-1-0-0
Receiving — Hanover: Passafiume 12-116, Miller 9-93, Smart 4-38, Zeck 2-35, Robinette 1-5; Rose-Hulman: Eason 7-50, Hopf 4-33, Reives 3-75, Kovach 2-12
Next — On Saturday, Rose-Hulman (3-3, 1-2 HCAC) is host to Defiance, and Hanover (1-4-1-1 HCAC) is at Mount St. Joseph.
College
Big plays push Rose football past Hanover
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ISU Senior Day game to be televised on ESPN
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