Verona, Wis., November 20, 2021 – The Washington University in St. Louis football team ended the season with a 48-27 loss to UW-River Falls in the inaugural Culver's Isthmus Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

River Falls outscored the Bears 28-6 in the second half en route to the win. WashU ends its season 7-4.

In the first drive of the game, River Falls reached the WashU 22 but turned the ball over on downs.

The Bears capitalized on the following drive, which lasted seven plays. Quarterback Matt Rush started things off with a short two-yard gain. He then hit Collin Hoyhtya for an 18-yard pass for a first down at their own 17. Rush found Sam Fenske for 13-yards and followed it up with a 24-yard hurl to Hoytyta for a first down at the 28.

Rush was then sacked for a loss of 10 yards but made up for it on the following play, launching a 38-yard touchdown pass to Collin Goldberg. Junior kicker Chris Vartanian's extra-point attempt was good, giving WashU a 7-0 lead with 8:57 left in the first quarter.

The Bears forced a River Falls punt but could not capitalize to score again as Rush's pass was picked off by River Falls' Michael Brown.

River Falls went on to score following an 11-play drive that lasted 3:18.

Quarterback Kole Hinrichsen hit Alex Traxler for three yards before passing it off to Luke Fugate for a four-yard rush. Hinrichsen found Jager Reissman for eight yards and then Traxler for another seven. Fugate rushed for six yards for a first down at the 24.

Hinrichsen hit Reissman but lost three yards before finding Andy Groebner for a 10-yard completion. Hinrichsen ran for a six-yard gain and a first down and then ultimately hit Charlie Huschka for an 11-yard touchdown. Cade Henry's extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving WashU with the 7-6 lead with 3:31 remaining on the clock in the first quarter.

Following a WashU punt, River Falls scored again on a six-play drive.

Hinrichsen found Reissman for a 20-yard pass and then Huschka for another five yards. Hinrichsen carried the ball himself for a nine-yard gain and then hit Huschka for 11 yards. The Falcons ultimately scored on a 13-yard pass from Hinrichsen to Reissman. Henry's kick attempt was good thing time, giving River Falls a 13-7 edge.

The Bears were forced to punt on the following drive, but the defense came up with a big play to take over possession. Johnathan Smith forced a Hinrichsen fumble and recovered the ball at the 46 to give WashU the possession.

WashU went on to score following the fumble recovery. Rush found Goldberg for 34 yards for a first down at the 12. It was a pass from Rush to Goldberg for 12 yards that sealed the deal and scored the touchdown. Vartanian converted his extra-point attempt to give the Bears a slight 14-13 advantage with 11:30 remaining in the second quarter.

With a fourth-and-one, Rush was sacked for a loss of three yards, giving River Falls the possession. The Falcons went on to score on the next drive, which lasted 13 plays and 4:45.

Fugate and Hinrichsen started things off with back-to-back rushes of three yards. Hinrichsen hit Huschka for a six-yard gain before finding Tanner Canfield for two-straight completions for three and four yards. Hinrichsen picked up four yards on the ground and then found Tim Oeun for a seven-yard gain.

Hinrichsen picked up two yards and Fugate added another two for a first down at the 37. Completions to Ben Beise and Reissman moved the Falcons up to the 17 and Fugate ran in the final 17 yards for a touchdown. Henry's extra-point attempt was good, giving River Falls a 20-14 lead with 1:56 left in the second quarter.

The Bears put up more points on the following drive to go into halftime with a 21-20 lead.

Rush hit Emmanuel Ebirim for nine yards and Fenske for seven yards to give the Bears a first down at the 42. Tennyson Holmes caught a 21-yard pass from Rush for another first down. WashU moved up another five yards to the 16 following a River Falls offside call.

Fenske caught another pass for four yards and ultimately Holmes brought it home with a 12-yard touchdown run. Vartanian's kick was good to give the Bears the edge with 40 seconds remaining.

On the following River Falls' drive, graduate student Andrew Whitaker intercepted Hinrichsen's pass at the 33 to regain possession for the Bears.

River Falls had the ball to start the second half, but the Falcons' drive was cut short as JT Streepy forced a fumble and recovered the ball to give WashU the ball. The Bears, however, were forced to punt.

River Falls went on to score on the next drive, which lasted nine plays and 2:53.

Hinrichsen hit Fugate for a six-yard gain and a face mask penalty moved the Falcons up 15 yards for a first down. Fugate rushed for back-to-back gains of five and four yards, respectively, and Hinrichsen picked up three yards on the ground.

Hinrichsen hit Traxler for a 16-yard pass to give the Falcons a first down at the 37. He followed that up with a five-yard and seven-yard pass to Reissman, resulting in another first down. A six-yard complete to Oeun put River Falls at the 19 and Hinrichsen ran the remaining yards for a touchdown. The Falcons tried for a two-point conversion, which failed, giving River Falls a 26-21 lead with 7:20 left in the third quarter.

WashU turned it over on downs, leading to another River Falls touchdown drive that lasted eight plays and 2:32.

Hinrichsen found Reissman for 15 yards and one yard, respectively, to put the Falcons on their own 42. Hinrichsen ran for a yard and hit Huschka for six yards. Fugate when on to rush for 11 yards for a first down at the 40. A completion to Beise and a Hinrichsen run for five yards recorded another first down. Huschka ultimately scored the touchdown on a 29-yard pass from Hinrichsen. Henry's kick was good, giving the Falcons a 33-21 lead.

River Fall came up with a  blocked punt and recovery at the 48 to start its drive of eight plays.

Hinrichsen found Groebner for seven yards and then lost two yards on a rush and fumbled the ball but recovered it. Reissman caught a 15-yard pass from Hinrichsen and Fugate ran for six yards, which ended the third quarter.

Kaleb Blaha picked up five yards and then found Traxler for a 15-yard completion. Beise ran the remaining two yards for a touchdown and Henry's kick was good to give the Falcons a 40-21 lead.

Following a WashU punt, River Falls went on to score its final touchdown of the game after a 13-play drive that lasted 4:30.

Fugate picked up three yards and Hinrichsen found Huschka for a 13-yard completion and first down. Beise caught a seven-yard pass and Fugate picked up four more yards for another first down. Hinrichsen rushed for 10 yards followed by another three-yard gain by Fugate. The Falcons then moved up to the 37 following a 10-yard holding penalty on WashU.

Hinrichsen ran for three yards before hitting Fugate and Traxler for back-to-back gains of five yards and 13 yards, respectively. Reissman caught a 10-yard pass for a first down at the six and Hinrichsen ran it in the rest of the way for a touchdown. Beise's two-point conversion attempt was successful, giving River Falls a 48-21 lead with 7:32 on the clock.

The Bears scored the final touchdown of the game on a four-play drive which started with 20 and three yard passes to Kenvorris Campbell. Jared Harrison scored the points for the Bears, catching a 41-yard pass from Rush. Vartanian's extra-point kick was blocked.

WashU had 332 yards of total offense including 318 net yards passing and 14 net yards rushing. River Falls finished with 653 yards of total offense including 373 yards passing and 280 yards rushing.

Rush finished 21-for-35 with 318 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Goldberg led the receivers with 121 yards on five catches and two touchdowns. Hoyhtya had 49 yards on three catches and Harrison had 41 yards on 1 catch. Holmes led on the ground with 21 yards on four carries and a touchdown.

Defensively, Kyle Schroeder finished with 20 total tackles – 14 solo and six assists. Alex Harvey finished with 10 tackles including nine solo and Streepy had 10 tackles including six solo plus a half-tackle-for-a-loss and a forced fumble.