Wabash held Rose-Hulman to 52 yards rushing while the Little Giant offense threw for three touchdowns in a 33-23 victory in Terre Haute, Indiana Saturday night in the opening game of the 2021 football season.

Wabash (1-0) returned to play for the first time in 652 days. The last game for the Little Giants came in the 2019 NCAA DIII Football Playoffs at North Central.

Wabash bottled up Rose-Hulman (0-1) All-American running back Shane Welshans all night long. Welshans was held to 25 yards rushing on 15 carries. Rose threw for 339 yards with 58 coming on the final play of the game for Fightin' Engineers.

The Little Giants ran for 124 yards and two scores and threw for 340 yards and three TDs. Liam Thompson completed 19-of-31 passes with one interception and one sack. The lone interception led to the first points of the game.

Thompson was picked off by Rashard Brown on the Little Giants' second offensive series. Brown returned the ball to the Wabash seven-yard line. Rose was unable to get more than a 22-yard field goal off the turnover after the Little Giants held on three consecutive plays.

Wabash responded with a six-play drive capped by a Derek Allen seven-yard TD run, set up by a 41-yard run by Thompson on the third play of the drive. Allen's touchdown put Wabash in front 6-3 and gave the Little Giants a lead they would never relinquish.

Wabash took advantage of another huge defensive series, forcing Rose to turn the ball over on downs late in the first quarter. Thompson capped a four-play drive with a one-yard run to give his team a 13-3 lead. Rose answered with a three-play scoring drive after a penalty on the ensuing Wabash kickoff led to a short field. An 11-yard TD pass from Andrew Dion to Daniel Huery cut the Wabash lead to 13-10 at the end of the first period.

Thompson threw the first of his three TD passes on the night for the first score of the second quarter. He connected on an 11-yard play to Donovan Snyder to put the Little Giants up 20-10. The host Engineers closed out the first half with an impressive seven-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard TD pass from Dion to Grant Ripperda to make the score 20-16 at the half.

Thompson added a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Jackson Clayborne in the third quarter on strikes of 11 and 18 yards to put the game out of reach. Rose scored on their final play of the game when Huery raced down the sideline on a 58-yard reception to tally the final points of the contest and provide the ten-point margin.

Seth Buresh paced the Wabash defense with seven solo tackles and one of two Little Giant sacks in the game. Jose Franco added six tackles and made one of two interceptions on the night. Avery Epstein picked off his first career interception, as well. Will Olive recorded 2-1/2 tackles for losses totaling five yards. The Little Giants finished the game with eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Clayborne hauled in four passes for 68 yards and two scores. Cooper Sullivan caught three passes for a team-best 69 yards, including a 44-yard catch and run. Thompson paced the Wabash rushing game with 10 carries for 87 yards. Snyder added 68 rushing yards on 23 carries. Cade Campbell ran for 21 yards on 10 attempts and caught one 44-yard pass that set up a Wabash score.

The Little Giants open North Coast Athletic Conference play next Saturday with a road trip to Hiram, Ohio to play the Hiram College Terriers. Kickoff is set for noon.