Caralla Breaks Out in Loss to Rose-Hulman

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Lewis Caralla turned in his best performance of the season with 188 rushing yards on only 18 carries, but it was not enough to get Defiance past Rose-Hulman on Saturday. The Jackets came up just short to a well-balanced attack from the Engineers, falling 28-21, at Coressel Stadium.

The two teams went toe to toe all day long and finished nearly even in every statistical category. Defiance piled up a season-best 393 total yards of offense on 62 plays and held the ball for 29 minutes and 49 seconds. Rose-Hulman (6-1, 4-0 HCAC) countered with 387 total yards of offense on 68 plays and recorded 30 minutes and 11 seconds of possession.

Defiance started strong defensively and looked to be settling in after opening the game with a pair of stops against the Fighting Engineers. A special teams miscue would put the Yellow Jacket defense on its toes however, and lead directly to Rose-Hulman's first score of the day.

After forcing Rose's second punt in as many possessions to open the game, DC lost the ball on the ensuing punt return and R-H's Bryan Wong recovered the fumble on Defiance's own 29-yard line.

The Engineers would run the ball on the first eight plays of the drive and march to the three, before Derek Eitel connected with Nate Richter for the touchdown pass and 7-0 advantage.

Rose-Hulman would threaten again on its next possession, as Eitel found Coleman Sutton for a 61-yard strike on the first play of the drive to move the ball to DC's own 24 yard line. The Jackets dug in on defense once again and stuffed the next rushing attempt for a loss, before Austin Hedderly chased down Eitel for a 12-yard sack.

Defiance would eventually force a punt and begin to flip field position on its next drive by banging out 55 yards to get to the Rose-Hulman 30-yard line. A pooch punt from Rick Powell pinned Rose on its own four and a three-and-out gave DC the ball back on the 50.

Caralla opened the drive with a nine-yard sprint, before rattling off runs of 26 and 10 to move the ball to the five. Powell then found Nick Wiedenhoft in the end zone for a five-yard reception to knot the score at 7-7 with 1:54 remaining in the first half.

Another special teams play would hurt Defiance however, as the Jackets allowed a 37-yard return by Tim Schrock on the following kickoff. Eitel would capitalize on the favorable starting position by connecting on four-of-eight passes, before Bueltel capped the 55-yard, 30-second drive with a four-yard touchdown scamper which sent Rose-Hulman to the half with a 14-7 lead.

The fast action carried over into the second half, where Defiance got the ball to start the third quarter and wasted little time finding pay dirt. Caralla returned the kick 20 yards before ripping off an 11-yard run to start the drive. Powell then connected on a 24-yard gain to Wiedenhoft, which was followed by yet another long run from Caralla. The 31-yard touchdown run was fueled by a block from Dan Mull which opened up a gaping hole for Caralla to race through. The senior did just that and carried a defender with him over the goal line for the game-tying score.

The Jackets would immediately surrender momentum right back to Rose-Hulman on yet another costly mistake by the special teams. This time the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds for a penalty, allowing the Engineers to eventually start the drive on their own 44-yard line. Rose took advantage once again and covered 56 yards on seven plays to bump its lead to 21-14 with 9:29 left in the third quarter.

Caralla would bring the Jackets back two drives later, igniting another score with a 58-yard run to the Rose-Hulman 22-yard line. Drew Kuesel relieved Caralla by carrying the ball twice for 14 yards and pushing the Jackets inside the 10. Defiance then got a pair of outstanding efforts from Wiedenhoft and Mull to pull down the eight-yard touchdown pass. Powell lofted the ball into the corner of the end zone where Wiedenhoft made a leaping grab but had the ball knocked loose on the way down and into the waiting arms of Mull for the score.

Neither side would score again until midway through the fourth quarter when Rose-Hulman got a fourth-down conversion to spark the game-winning score. Facing a fourth down and one on the DC 38, R-H handed the ball to Wong for a 26-yard run. Eitel connected with Reed Eason just two plays later to cap the scoring at 28-21 with 8:11 remaining in the game.

Defiance would have one more shot after marching to the 24-yard line of the Engineers, but a fourth down pass from Powell was just out of the reach of a diving Joseph Lane. The failed fourth down gave the ball back to Rose-Hulman with 3:00 minutes left and a 70-yard run from Bueltel would ice the victory for the Engineers.

The Jackets had their finest offensive performance of the season behind a strong showing from the offensive line which paved the way for 276 yards rushing. Caralla led the way with 188 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries for an impressive 10.4 yards a pop. Kuesel also had a big performance with 90 yards on 17 touches for 5.3 a carry.

Powell turned in another solid effort from the quarterback slot, throwing for a pair of touchdowns and 117 yards on 11 completions. Wiedenhoft caught five of those completions for 57 yards and a score, while Mull hauled in the other touchdown pass.

Snyder upped his team-leading tackles tally to 77 with a game-high 15 stops. The senior's seven assisted tackles moved him to 165 for his career and just three shy of Donny Mutters' (1988-1991) all-time mark of 168. Longsdorf also played well on defense with eight tackles, while Austin Hedderly picked up four tackles and a pair of sacks.

Defiance (0-6, 0-3 HCAC) will play at home once again on Oct. 25, when it hosts Anderson (3-3, 2-1 HCAC) at 1:30 pm inside Coressel Stadium.