Published: November 07, 2009 12:56 am         

Rose football eyes fourth straight winning season

TERRE HAUTE — With a victory today, Rose-Hulman’s football team will finish with a winning record for the fourth consecutive year.

Rose-Hulman (5-4, 3-3) travels to Anderson College (1-7, 1-4) in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at 1:30 p.m. today inside Macholtz Stadium. It is the regular season finale for the visiting Engineers.

Rose has been 6-4, 7-3 and 7-3 the past three seasons, and could wind up 6-4 this season. All those seasons, not coincidentally, were under the direction of Rose coach Steve Englehart.

This game also marks the conclusion of the collegiate career of senior quarterback Derek Eitel. And what a career for the Marshall, Ill., standout. Eitel holds career school passing records for completions (556), yardage (7,195) and touchdown passes (48).

Last week, he earned HCAC Player of the Week honors, becoming only the second Rose player to pass for over 400 yards, going 27-of-45 for 422 yards vs. Franklin last week at Cook Stadium. Eitel needs “just” 152 yards passing today to set a single-season school mark.

One of Eitel’s main targets, junior tight end Reed Eason, already ranks second in school history with 140 receptions for 19 TD’s, and is ranked fifth in reception yardage. He could set multiple single-season records today.

On defense, Scott Eaton needs 10 tackles to achieve the top five list in Rose-Hulman history — he has 106 tackles in nine games this season.

Rose began the season in impressive fashion, winning their first two games. But they lost four of the next five games, albeit close decisions, by just one, seven, three and seven points to drop to 3-4 overall.

The Engineers have rebounded to win its last two games, 50-14 at Bluffton, then 34-21 vs. Franklin last week. The win last week vs. Franklin snapped a three-game losing skid in that series.

Meanwhile, Anderson lost its first six games with their defense allowing a staggering average of 47.5 points per game. In four of the six losses, the Ravens allowed 55, 51, 61 and 50 points.

But the Ravens have played much better defensively the past two weeks, losing 20-7 vs. Defiance, before winning their first game of the season 28-3 at Bluffton last week.

Ryan Hildenbrand is a threat on both sides of the ball after scoring three one-yard rushing TD’s last at Bluffton. He already leads the HCAC in tackles-for-loss.

Just like Franklin, Anderson has relied on three quarterbacks on offense. Mitch Grider, Nick Sharp and Jacob Walker have combined to pass for 1,872 yards and 15 TD’s this season. The Ravens lack a go-to receiver, but eight players have at least 10 catches this season.



Rose-Hulman

AT ANDERSON

The matchup — Rose-Hulman (5-4, 3-3) travels to Anderson College (1-7, 1-4) in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. This is the Engineers’ regular season finale.

Kickoff — 1:30 p.m.

Site — Macholtz Stadium, Anderson, Ind.

Broadcast — Link to game coverage at www.rose-hulman.edu/sports

Coaches — Steve Englehart (25-14) in his fourth season at Rose-Hulman. Jeff Judge (29-39) is in his seventh season at Anderson.

Last season — Anderson won 35-31 at Cook Stadium.

Last week — Rose won 34-21 vs. Franklin. Anderson won 28-3 at Bluffton.

Series — Rose-Hulman leads 7-6.

— Dennis Clark