CINCINNATI, Ohio -- No. 22 ranked Mount St. Joseph advanced to the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs for the first time since 2009 with a 40-31 win over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday afternoon.
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Rose-Hulman and Mount St. Joseph entered the game after perfect 6-0 seasons in HCAC play until the final week. The back and forth game featured nearly 900 yards in total offense between the two teams.
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Rose-Hulman led 6-0 and 13-6 early in the second quarter. Grant Ripperda started the scoring on a 1-yard run to complete a 16-play, 85-yard opening drive and give the Engineers the lead. After Mount St. Joseph tied the score at 6-6, Daniel Huery returned a kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown to make the score 13-6 in favor of the Engineers.
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Mount St. Joseph held a 20-16 lead at halftime after holding Rose-Hulman to a 19-yard field goal by Kyle Rehberg on the final play of the first half on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line. Mount St. Joseph pushed the lead to 27-16 early in the third quarter on the second rushing score of the day by
Josh Taylor.
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Rose-Hulman immediately closed within 27-23 on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Miguel Robertson to Huery. Mount St. Joseph increased the lead to 34-23 on a 15-yard scoring pass from Taylor to
Cornell Beachem Jr. with 9:40 left in the fourth quarter, before Rose-Hulman roared back with another score.
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Robertson and Huery connected on another touchdown pass, this time 34 yards, to bring Rose-Hulman within 34-31 with 9:40 left. Taylor scored his third rushing touchdown of the day for the game's final points as Mount St. Joseph secured the hard fought 40-31 victory.
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Taylor rushed for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns, and also completed 17-of-37 passes for 199 yards and 2 more scores. Beachem Jr. added 145 rushing yards on 21 carries with a touchdown.
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Mount St. Joseph advances to the NCAA Division III Playoffs after a perfect 10-0 regular season. Rose-Hulman completed its season with a 6-4 record.
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