Rose-Hulman placed 11 players on the all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football team, highlighted by the unanimous selection of senior Derek Eitel as league Offensive Player of the Year.
Eitel becomes Rose-Hulman’s first league Offensive Player of the Year since Jason Duff received the honor from the College Athletic Conference in 1988. He is the first league Player of the Year on either side of the ball since Paul Spreen won the HCAC defensive honors in 2007.
Eitel graduated with every major career passing record and rewrote the Engineer offensive record book in 2009. His career totals include school record marks of 576 completions for 7,507 passing yards and 52 touchdowns, along with a career passing efficiency rating of 125.4.
Single-season records for Eitel included 2,723 passing yards and 24 touchdowns, along with a passing efficiency rating of 152.8. He also passed for the second most yards in school history in a 27-for-45 effort for 422 yards and three touchdowns to lead Rose-Hulman over Franklin 34-21.
“Definitely my senior year culminated with my best year,” said Eitel, a former standout at Marshall, Ill. “I really got comfortable with coach [Steve] Englehart. The players around me got better every year. The offensive line was solid throughout the year. You’ve got to have protection to throw all those passes.”
Rose-Hulman had bigger expectations than a 6-4 season, Eitel said, but after a 2-3 start, “it ended pretty well,” Eitel said.
“I’m proud of the way we battled back from adversity this year. We lost four games by [a combined] 18 points. We were right there in every game.”
Kyle Kovach captured a second major award for Rose-Hulman by earning league Freshman of the Year honors. The Engineers have captured this award in two of the last three seasons, with Reed Eason capturing the honor in 2007.
First-team all-conference honorees included Eitel; junior wide receiver Reed Eason; junior linebacker Scott Eaton; junior tight end Ben Hopf; and graduate student kick returner Thomas Reives.
Rose-Hulman also placed five players on the second-team all-league squad. Kovach received two awards, one for his play at running back and the other for his kick returning prowess. Reives captured a second-team accolade for his efforts at wide receiver. Senior Patrick Duncan claimed second-team honors at defensive end, junior Matt Baber was honored for his play at the offensive guard spot, and sophomore Jeff Ketchum earned the honor for his efforts at left offensive tackle.
In addition, three Engineers earned spots on the honorable mention all-league team. Eason was recognized as the honorable mention punter, senior Kyle Stevens was honored for his play at safety, with junior Robby Alumbaugh cited for his play at cornerback.
Kovach claimed the Freshman of the Year and his pair of second-team all-league accolades after finishing second in the conference in rushing with 736 yards and nine touchdowns on a 5.0 average per carry.
He also returned 10 kickoffs for 216 yards and one touchdown. His efforts included a career-high 153 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over Hanover.
Eason finished with school records of 71 receptions and nine touchdowns for the team this fall. He also placed second in school history with 877 receiving yards and stands second in program history with 155 career catches and 19 touchdown receptions. He also ranks fifth in school history with 1,845 yards.
Eaton ranked eighth in Rose-Hulman single-season history with 112 tackles to rank second in the HCAC. His efforts including five straight games in double figures for tackles that included a career-high 17 stops vs. Hanover. He enters his senior season with 209 career tackles and 15 tackles-for-loss.
Hopf made his mark on the Engineers during his first season on the gridiron since high school. The electrical engineering major earned academic all-district and was named first-team all-league after ranking third on the team with 30 receptions for 377 yards and four touchdowns. He hauled in a career-high six catches at North Park and gained a career-high 95 yards at Anderson.
Reives earned first-team all-league honors as a kick returner and claimed second-team honors for his efforts at wide receiver. He completes his playing career ranked as the all-time leader in average yards per catch (21.1) and seventh in receiving yards at 1,504. He also returned 39 kickoffs for 865 yards in his Rose-Hulman career, an average of 22.2 yards per effort. This season, Reives ranked second on the team with 718 receiving yards and five touchdown catches.
Baber completed his third year as a starter for the Fightin’ Engineers and started all 10 games at the right guard position to earn his first career all-conference honor. He served on an offensive unit that established new school records for points scored (365), passing yards (2,849), touchdown passes (25) and total offense (4,282 yards).
Duncan led the Engineers with six sacks and anked second on the team with eight pass breakups in a breakthrough season. He finished first among team defensive linemen with 42 tackles, including 24 solo efforts, and led the team with two forced fumbles and four quarterback hurries.
Ketchum started all 10 games on the offensive line for the second consecutive year to earn his second career all-league honor. He moved to left tackle this fall and helped anchor an offensive line that recorded three of the top five single-game offensive performances in school history this fall, highlighted by a 589-yard performance in a 34-21 win over Franklin.
Rose-Hulman finished the season with a 6-4 record and placed third in the HCAC at 4-3 in league play. The Fightin’ Engineers won six games in a season for the fourth consecutive year, the first time in school history that the football program has accomplished the feat. The 2010 schedule will be announced when non-conference games are finalized.
College
Derek Eitel Named Heartland Conference Offensive Player of the Year; 11 Engineers Capture All-League Honors
- College
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Bubble intact: ISU headed to NCAA baseball tournament
Forty-eight teams had been chosen for the NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Show and things were getting antsy in the Indiana State clubhouse on Monday.
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Indiana State’s baseball fate to be decided today
At high noon today, the train arrives for the Indiana State baseball team.
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ISU hurdler Swift becomes 5th Sycamore to make NCAAs
Indiana State sophomore Greggmar Swift became the second member of the men’s team and the fifth Sycamore overall to qualify for the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Finals at Drake University, placing second in the second heat of the 110 meter hurdle quarterfinals Saturday at the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
Lou Watson, former IU player and coach, dies at 88
Former Indiana University player and coach Lou Watson died on Thursday in Fairfax, Va., the school announced. He was 88.
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METRO ROUNDUP: ISU’s Pounds qualifies for NCAA Championships
Brandon Pounds of Indiana State missed the 2011 outdoor season with a hand injury but has made up for lost time, qualifying for the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake University with a fifth place finish in the men’s hammer throw at the NCAA East Preliminary Friday.
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Rose’s Liz Evans wins fourth NCAA high jump title
Junior Liz Evans became the first Rose-Hulman athlete to earn four career NCAA Division III championships by winning the women’s high jump at Friday’s 2012 outdoor national meet at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
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Indiana State throwers advance to NCAA championships
A pair of Indiana State juniors punched their ticket to Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday as Felisha Johnson finished fifth and Mary Theisen ninth in the women’s shot put at the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary track and field championships on the University of North Florida campus.
“Both were very focused and had great starts,” ISU women’s track coach Angela Martin said. “They did just what we wanted them to … be relaxed, have fun, and do what they have already done this season.” -
Blanked by Blach: ISU drops MVC tournament opener
Things went wrong for Indiana State’s baseball team in its Missouri Valley Conference Tournament opener against Creighton, but one statistic glowed white-hot.
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MVP of the MVC: Lucas first Sycamore to earn Player of Year honors
Indiana State’s baseball team got the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season hardware last week and it’s hoping to grab more gold this week in its quest to win the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament.
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Sycamores try to catch Missouri Valley Conference tourney vibe
A Missouri Valley Conference championship season has bloomed for the Indiana State baseball team in 2012. The Sycamores have been dominant through most of the season.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
When Indiana State was crowned as the regular season baseball champion of the Missouri Valley Conference last Thursday, it marked the fifth different regular season champion the league has had since 2005.
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ISU claims Missouri Valley Conference baseball title
Entering Thursday’s game against Indiana State, Missouri State starting pitcher Nick Petree had gone 72 1/3 innings without surrendering an earned run, an unofficial NCAA record.
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ISU baseball in familiar territory with MVC title on line
First place is there is for the taking for Indiana State's baseball team this weekend … so is redemption.
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A time for firsts: SMWC seniors have national title aspirations
Even though St. Mary-of-the-Woods College has won eight national titles in softball in the last 16 years, seniors Sara Goelz and Jessica Jonas are among the many current Woods players who have not been part of a national championship team.
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Win over SIU puts Sycamores in first place
As Indiana State’s baseball team tried to climb to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference mountain on Saturday against Southern Illinois, it stood to reason that the air would get more rarefied as they neared the summit.
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Major Clay takes fourth straight MVC high jump title
For the fourth straight year, Indiana State’s Major Clay will climb to the top spot on the awards podium as the Sycamore captured his fourth high jump championship at the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
The competition was conducted at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University. -
Edgewood takes Western Indiana Conference golf crown
Edgewood and senior Jackson Cowden took top honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys golf championship played Saturday at Idle Creek.
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North grad wins 10,000 at Big Ten Championships
Terre Haute North alumnus Zach Mayhew ran a Dan McClimon track record at the University of Wisconsin to win the 10,000 meters at the Big Ten Championships.
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Top-seeded Rose-Hulman falls in opener of HCAC Tournament
A couple of Rose-Hulman streaks came to an end Thursday night in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament action, but the home-team jinx looks to be still alive.
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ISU's Ort getting hot at right time for Sycamores
Indiana State’s baseball game notes list game-by-game performance for each Sycamore batter. It lists them box score-style: at-bats, runs, hits and RBI.
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Terre Haute native getting national attention as freshman for Kentucky
On a day where Terre Haute native A.J. Reed returned home to continue his college career, he got plenty of time to be on-stage.
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Top seed, home field doesn’t guarantee Rose success
On the surface, serving as host for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament would appear to benefit Rose-Hulman’s No. 1-seeded team, which finished the regular season 27-12 overall and 18-6 in the conference.
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Metro roundup: ISU’s Lucas honored by Missouri Valley again
For the fifth time in the last nine weeks, Indiana State junior catcher Jeremy Lucas has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
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Sycamores top Shockers in 10 innings in MVC series opener
If free baseball is what you want, Indiana State has what you need. For the sixth time in the span of a month, ISU’s series opener went extra innings.
- METRO ROUNDUP: Rose baseball team takes first game of doubleheader
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ISU starting pitchers in rhythm heading into Wichita State series
“Gettting into rhythm” is such an oft-used cliché in sports that it’s hard to hear the term and fight the urge to not let it enter one ear and escape another.
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ISU goes to well too many times
Perhaps the most unnecessary pursuit for a Wabash Valley sports fan during the now-completed weekend was watching the first few innings of nonconference college baseball between Indiana State and visiting Nebraska-Omaha.
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ISU baseball living on the edge
Indiana State’s baseball team got its game against Nebraska-Omaha in Saturday between morning and evening rain showers. But in the wake of another walk-off 3-2 victory against the struggling Mavericks, one might be forgiven if they felt the Sycamores are walking between the raindrops a bit.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Central baseball improves to 10-2
North Central lost a 7-1 game to Vincennes Rivet, and then Nolan Kinnett pitched the Thunderbirds to victory, adding a double and three RBIs against Riverton Parke in a pair of high school baseball games on Saturday.
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