St. Louis, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis football team opened the 2022 season in a big way, defeating Hendrix 52-7. It's the most points in a season opener for the Bears since they scored 58 in 1954.
 
Hendrix received the ball to start the game and Jacob Wood rushed for a loss of 16 yards, resulting in a safety and a WashU 2-0 lead just seconds into the game.
 
The Bears wasted no time in building that lead, scoring their first touchdown of the game on their first possession. The drive, which lasted three plays for 63 yards, started with a 39 yard rush from sophomore Kenvorris Campbell.
 
Senior quarterback Matt Rush hit Collin Hoyhtya for an 18-yard pass and followed it up with a six-yard pass to Collin Goldberg for a touchdown. Senior Chris Vartanian hit the extra point, giving the Bears a 9-0 lead.
 
The Bears forced a Hendrix punt on the next possession and went on to score a touchdown when they got the ball back. WashU's scoring drive lasted nine plays and 2:35.
 
Rush hit Hoyhtya for a one yard gain and Campbell rushed for 12 yards to bring it to the Hendrix 40. Tom Peters caught a two-yard pass from Rush and then the Bears moved up five years following a Hendrix penalty.
 
Kenneth Hamilton ran for three more yards and then caught a 16-yard pass from Rush to put the Bears on the 14. First-year Fred Ware then picked up six yards and two yards, respectively, before running six yards for his first career touchdown at WashU for 16-0 lead.
 
After another forced Hendrix punt, the Bears took a 23-0 lead on the following possession.
 
Ware rushed for 10 yards to gain a first down and Rush ran for five to move up to the Hendrix 36. Following a timeout, Hamilton unleashed for a 36-yard touchdown run, the first of his career. Vartanian's kick was good with 5:38 left in the first quarter.
 
Following back-to-back punts from both teams, Hendrix took over possession, but it was short-lived as Jack Costello notched his first career interception at the 45.
 
The Bears capitalized and scored another touchdown to make the score 30-0 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Rush hit Hoyhtya for a 52-yard pass, putting the Bears at the three yard line. Ware ran for one yard and Rush hit Peters for a two-yard touchdown pass, the first of his career. Vartanian's kick was good with 53 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
 
After two empty possessions, Hendrix went on to score its lone touchdown of the game on a drive that lasted 10 plays and 3:05.
 
Wood hit Christian Gadison with a 20-yard pass and then ran the ball himself for 13 yards. Brian Gitten went on to rush for 12 yards before losing two yards. A false start pushed the Warriors back five yards to the WashU 32 before Hendrix called a timeout. Wood followed that with a 10-yard pass to Riley McMurren then another 10-yard pass to Gadison, putting the Warriors on the 12 yard line. Wood hit Kanyn Utley for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
 
The Bears responded with another touchdown run on the next possession, starting with a Rush pass to Goldberg for 12 yards. Rush hit Goldberg again for 15 yards and Ware ran for one yard to put the Bears at the 37. Rush then hit Ware for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Vartanian's kick was blocked, giving the Bears a 36-7 edge.
 
On Hendrix's next drive the Warriors got all the way to the six-yard line but came up short against WashU's defense, resulting in a turnover on downs.
 
The Bears began their drive with 3:51 left in the second quarter and scored another touchdown just as the clock hit zero.
 
The 12-play, 94 yard possession started with back-to-back runs from Hamilton for four and 16 yards, respectively. Rush hit Jack Jopes for a three-yard pass and Hamilton followed with a five-yard run. Following an offside penalty against Hendrix, the Bears moved up to the 39.
 
Rush ran for a gain of 17 yards and first-year Joshua Asante ran for seven yards to the 17. Rush picked up a first down after a seven-yard run, setting Rush up for a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jopes. Vartanian's kick was good, giving the Bears a 43-7 halftime lead.
 
WashU started the second half how it finished the first, with another touchdown.
 
Hamilton ran for eight yards and Ware picked up seven, four, eight and nine yards respectively before Rush found Will Gardner for a 24-yard touchdown pass, the first touchdown of his career. Vartanian's kick was good, putting the Bears up 50-7.
 
The Bears notched their second interception of the game on the next Warriors' possession has Sam Mattecheck grabbed a pass from Wood at the 20.
 
WashU put up its final two points of the game with just over six minutes remaining when Jacob Buniff rushed for a loss of 17, resulting in a safety.

As a team, the Bears finished with 592 total offense (303 passing, 289 rushing) and held Hendrix to just 174 total yards.
 
Indivually, Rush went 15-for-22 with 215 yards and five touchdown passes. Hamilton led the team with 86 rushing yards in nine attempts and one touchdown while Ware went 62 yards on 12 attempts with one touchdown. Hoyhtya led the Bears' receiving efforts with 71 yards on three catches while Zachary Ginsburg notched 49 yards on three catches.
 
Kieran Conjar had six total tackles to lead WashU while Dalton Bingman recorded four. Costelo finished with three tackles and an interception while Connor Burke notched two tackles included a sack for a loss of five yards. Nolan Schmidt also had two tackles and a sack for a loss of seven yards.
 
The Bears are back at home next weekend to open up CCIW play against Millikin at 1 p.m.