ALBION, Mich. -- The Albion College football team edged the Fightin' Engineers of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 25-17, in a hard-fought non-conference battle at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium. The win moves Albion to 2-1 on the season.
The Britons rode strong special teams and capitalized on chunk plays through the air to fend off a fourth-quarter push by the Fightin' Engineers. Albion outgained Rose-Hulman in total offense, 355 yards to 251, all while running 15 less plays than the Fightin' Engineers. Albion's defense held Rose-Hulman to just three-yards per play on offense and forced the visitors to go 6-for-20 on third down.
Logan Grwinski, the reigning MIAA Special Teams Athlete of the Week, provided a scoring boost for Albion once again, with a second-straight game with four field goals. The senior went 4-for-4 on field goals and was responsible for 13 of Albion's 25 points.
Grwinski opened the scoring with a 33-yard field goal late in the first quarter to put Albion up 3-0 to cap a 9-play, 51-yard drive. In the second quarter, Albion extended its lead when quarterback
Ali Murray connected with
Cameron Moore on second down with a 7-yard scoring pass, making it 10-0. Rose Hulman trimmed the margin to 10-3 with a 28-yard field goal from Trevor Saguto heading into the halftime break.
The Britons responded coming out of the break, once again relying on Grwinski's leg. The Niles, Michigan, native nailed field goals of 42 and 40 yards to put Albion up, 16-3. Rose-Hulman used a nine-play 75 yard drive cut Albion's lead to six at 16-10 with 2:48 to play in the third quarter. Albion refused to let Rose-Hulman gain any momentum, however, as Murray uncorked a deep ball to
Jaylan Johnson 40 seconds later that resulted in a 65-yard touchdown for Albion.
Early in the fourth, Grwinski added a fourth field goal (34 yards) to give Albion a 25-10 cushion. Rose-Hulman didn't go quietly; Adam Yue threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kolton Nanko to make it 25-17, but Albion's defense held tight down the stretch to preserve the win.
On the ground,
Alex Trudell carried the load, rushing 24 times for 98 net yards, while
Jerone Turner added 42 yards. In the air, Murray finished the day 11-of-22 for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns. His deep strike to Johnson was the biggest passing play of the day.
On defense,
Adam Mills and
Ryan Deibis paced the Brits with 12 tackles apiece. Mills added a sack for a 10-yard loss.
Jajuan Johnson finished the day with six tackles and one pass break up.
Up Next
The Britons remain at home to open up MIAA action against Trine University on Saturday, September 27. Kickoff under the lights is scheduled for 6 pm.
