Elmhurst, Ill. – The (RV) Washington University in St. Louis football team defeated Elmhurst 49-6 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the CCIW.
 
The Bears won the toss and deferred, giving Elmhurst the ball to start. WashU's defense came up big with a sack for a loss of six yards by senior Jamel Streater and the Bluejays ended up punting from their own 19.
 
On the following drive, WashU made it to the 21 and, at third-and-13, set up for a field goal. The field goal, however, was blocked by Elmhurst's Brett Schwdler and the Bluejays recovered it on their own 15.
 
Elmhurst was forced to punt from its own seven after losing a total of nine yards on the drive and the Bears capitalized by scoring on their next drive.
 
There was a four-yard loss on the first play but senior quarterback Matt Rush launched a 40-yard touchdown pass to Collin Hoyhtya to give WashU the lead. Senior Chris Vartanian's kick was good to put the Bears up 7-0 with 8:32 remaining in the first quarter.
 
WashU's defense continued to smother Elmhurst's offense, coming up with another sack, this time by Dalton Bingman which led to the Bluejays punting. The Bears, however, had another field goal blocked on the following drive after reaching the eight.
 
After forcing another punt from Elmhurst, WashU started the final drive of the fourth quarter. Rush hit Cole Okmin for a short pass and then found Zachary Ginsburg for 15 yards to the 32. Ginsburg caught another pass from Rush for nine yards and Kenvorris Campbell picked up two yards to end the quarter.
 
The Bears opened the second quarter with a six-yard pass from Rush to Gabriel Sirek and Okmin caught the 15-yard touchdown pass from Rush. Vartanian's kick was good, extending WashU's lead to 14-0 with just 21 seconds off the clock in the second quarter.
 
Another forced punt from Elmhurst gave WashU the ball again. Rush found Hoyhtya for a four-yard pass and hit Danny Taylor for a 27-yard first-down catch. Kenneth Hamilton picked up four yards and Treyton Lamphier caught a nine-yard pass from Rush for another first down at the 40. Rush found Okmin for another 15 yards before drilling a 25-yard touchdown pass to Lamphier. Vartanian's kick was good, bumping the Bears' advantage to 21-0.
 
The Bluejays got on the board with just over five minutes left in the first half, following a blocked WashU punt by Quintin Perry, putting them on the 30 to start the drive. Matt Xiques hit Jacob Cockrell for the 30-yard touchdown pass, but Isaac Ochoa's kick was no good, making the score 21-6 in favor of the Bears.
 
WashU answered right back on the following drive with another touchdown. Rush hit Taylor for a 24-yard pass to the 30 for a first down and followed that with a 14-yard pass to Hoyhtya for another first down. Campbell picked up three yards before Rush was sacked for a loss of eight yards back to the 21
 
Rush's next pass attempt to Sirek was incomplete, but the Bears moved up 15 yards to the six following a pass interference call. Rush was sacked again for a loss of six yards but Campbell picked up six yards on the next run. Rush connected with Hoyhtya for a six-yard touchdown pass and Vartanian's kick was good, giving the Bears a 28-6 lead heading into half time.
 
WashU opened up the third quarter with another touchdown after receiving.
 
Hamilton started things off with a five-yard game and then ran again for another 13 yards. Fred Ware recorded back-to-back runs for eight and two yards, respectively, for a first down at the 41 and then the Bears moved up five yards on an offside call.
 
Rush found Lamphier for a five-yard pass before Ware ran for five yards and 24 yards. WashU moved up one yard to the one following an illegal substitution call on Elmhurst and Campbell – in his first game back following an injury – ran in the final yard for a touchdown, his first of the season. Vartanian's kick was good, giving the Bears a 35-6 lead.
 
With just 13 seconds left in the third quarter, WashU pushed through another touchdown. Hamilton ran for 19 yards for a first down at the 24 and then ran the ball in for the 24-yard touchdown. Vartanian's kick was good, making it 42-6.
 
Finally, with just under seven minutes left to play, the Bears broke through again, starting with a five-yard pass from quarterback Clark Stephens to Will Gardner. Campbell ran for six yards and a first down at the 46 before picking up another three yards.
 
Stephens launched a 38-yard pass from Gardner for another first down at the five and Campbell closed it out with a five-yard touchdown run for his second touchdown of the game. Bernie Cueto's kick was good, extending WashU's lead to 49-6.
 
WashU finished with 498 yards of total offense and held Elmhurst to just 111. The Bears went 28-for-41 with 354 passing yards and picked up 144 rushing yards. Elmhurst finished with -11 rushing yards.
 
Rush finished 24-for-35 with 301 yards and five touchdowns. Hamilton led the Bears on the ground with 64 yards on seven rushes and one touchdown. Hoytya notched 79 yards on six receptions with two touchdowns while Okmin finished with 76 yards on four catches and a touchdown.
 
Defensively, Gus Christensen had five total tackles with three solo and a tackle for a loss while Connor Burke had four total tackles. Matthew Schmal also finished with four total tackles including three solo and a tackle for a loss.
 
The Bears close out their regular-season home slate next Saturday with a 1 p.m. game against Wheaton, which will serve as senior day.