St. Louis, Mo. – The (RV) Washington University in St. Louis football team defeated Illinois Wesleyan 59-14 at home on Saturday afternoon. It is the most points the Bears have scored against IWU since 1953 when they scored 61 points and marks the first time since 1995 WashU has been 5-0 to start the season.
 
WashU is now 5-0 overall with a 4-0 mark in CCIW play and ranks No. 6 among Division III teams with 51.8 points per game.
 
IWU won the toss and deferred until the second half, giving the Bears the opportunity to get on the board first.

WashU started things off in a big way, as sophomore Kenneth Hamilton ran for 28 yards before being pushed out of bounds, giving the Bears a first down at their own 48. WashU moved up to the IWU 41 on a penalty before senior quarterback Matt Rush hit sophomore Collin Goldberg for a six-yard pass. Another IWU penalty for pass interference moved the Bears up to the 24.
 
Hamilton ran for four yards and Danny Taylor caught a five-yard pass to the 15. Rush found senior Cole Okmin for a 15-yard catch, giving the Bears the lead with 11:38 on the clock. Senior Chris Vartanian hit the extra point, putting WashU up 7-0.
 
The Bears forced a quick punt from the Titans and went on a four-play, 67-yard touchdown drive.
 
First-year Fred Ware started things off with a 40-yard run for a first down at the 27 and followed it up with another two-yard run. Rush then found Goldberg for a 25-yard touchdown pass and Vartanian hit the extra point for a 14-0 WashU lead with 8:56 remaining in the first quarter.
 
WashU's defense forced an IWU turnover on downs and the Bears offense continued its dominance with another touchdown.
 
Rush hit Okmin for a 20-yard pass for a first down and, following a three-yard loss, Gabriel Sirek caught a 10-yard pass from Rush to the 46. Rush found Goldberg for an 11-yard pass and added another three on an Okmin catch.
 
Rush then carried himself for 33 yards and hit Okmin for 10 yards to the 28. Hamilton completed the drive with a 28-yard touchdown run and Vartanian hit the extra point, bumping the Bears' lead to 21-0 with just over four minutes left in the first quarter.
 
Following a four-and-out for IWU, WashU took over to begin its drive with 1:53 remaining in the first. Rush found Treyton Lamphier for an eight-yard pass and Ware ran for seven yards. To start the second quarter, Lamphier caught a four-yard pass and then another 15-yard pass. An IWU face mask penalty moved the Bears up to the 15 and Okmin ran the ball in for the final 15 yards and a touchdown. Vartanian's kick was good, giving WashU a 28-0 lead.
 
On the following drive, the Titans reached the 15, but the ball was fumbled and recovered by senior Kieran Conjar, giving the Bears the ball at their own 30.
 
Hamilton began the drive with a four-yard run and then caught a four-yard pass from Rush. Rush found Goldberg for 16 yards and WashU moved up another five yards on an offside penalty to the 41. Rush hit Sirek for an eight-yard pass and Hamilton ran for 32 yards to the one yard line. WashU scored but the play was called back due to a penalty, moving WashU to the six yard line. Rush, however, finished things off with a six-yard run and Vartanian's kick was good for a 35-0 lead.
 
The Bears forced IWU to punt on its next drive and went on to score again before halftime.
 
Ware began with a six-yard and five-yard run, respectively, before picking up 17 yards and three to move the Bears to the 30. Rush found Zachary Ginsburg for eight yards. Ware picked up a total of nine yards on two rushes before Rush hit Collin Hoyhtya for a 13-yard touchdown. Vartanian's kick was good, giving WashU a 42-0 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the half.
 
IWU started the second half with the ball, but after making it just four yards, were forced to punt. The Bears also had to punt – their first of the game – on the following drive after going just 10 yards.
 
The Titans scored their first touchdown of the game on the following drive, starting with a Seth Albin rush for one yard followed by six yards. Quarterback Jay Lemenager hit Charlie Hamilton with a 10-yard pass for a first down at the 35 and Albion ran another six yards before a four-yard loss. Lemenager found Payton Gerberding with a 21-yard pass to the 12 and Albion ran another two yards. Lemenager found Hamilton for the final 10 yards for a touchdown and Andrew Stange hit the extra point kick for a 42-7 Bears lead.
 
On WashU's next drive, the Bears attempted a 32-yard field goal but Vartanian's kick was wide, giving IWU the ball back.
 
The Titans started with a small gain of one yard on a pass from Lemenager to Myles Kee before Kee unleased for a 79-yard touchdown. Stange's kick was good, making it 42-14.
 
WashU started its next drive with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter. Ware ran for 45 yards to bring the Bears to the 30 before Rush hit Goldberg for 24 yards and a first down. Ware ran in the final eight yards for the touchdown and Bernie Cueto converted the extra point for a 49-14 WashU lead.
 
The Bears' defense forced IWU to turn it over on downs and went on to score another touchdown with 10:41 remaining in the game.
 
Clark Stephens hit Will Gardner for an 18-yard pass to the 28 and first-year Artrell Miller ran for five yards. Stephens then hit Sirek for a 23-yard touchdown pass and Cueto's kick was good for a 56-14 WashU advantage.
 
The Titans punted on the following drive and after the Bears made it nearly all the way down the field on their next drive, Cueto hit a 20-yard field goal, giving WashU a 59-14 lead which held until the end.
 
Offensively, Rush went 20-for-31 with 243 passing yards and three touchdowns while also picking up six yards on five runs.
 
Ware led the Bears in rushing, recording 146 yards on 15 attempts and a touchdown. Hamilton finished with 122 yards on 12 attempts and one touchdown.
 
Goldberg recorded 82 receiving yards on five catches with a touchdown while Sirek had 64 yards on four catches with one touchdown. Okmin finished with 48 yards on four catches and one touchdown.
 
Defensively, Sam Mattecheck had six solo and one assisted tackle while Jamel Streater had five solo and one assisted as well as a sack. Conjar finished with three solo and one assisted tackle, a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
 
The Bears hit the road next week for a 3 p.m. game at Augustana before returning home on October 22 against No. 1 North Central.