Bloomington, Ill. – The RV Washington University in St. Louis football team defeated Illinois Wesleyan 38-10 on Saturday afternoon. The Bears are now 5-0 overall with a 4-0 mark in CCIW play.
 
WashU capitalized quickly, scoring on its first drive of the game. Quarterback Matt Rush hit Collin Hoythya for a nine-yard pass for the first play of the game. Kenneth Hamilton ran for back-to-back rushes of six and eight yards, respectively and Rush then found Tom Peters for a 19-yard pass.
 
Rush connected with Gabriel Sirek for five yards and Hamilton picked up four yards to put the Bears on the 23. Following an IWU pass interference call, the Bears advanced 15 yards to the eight and Hamilton went for another seven. Hamilton then finished the job with a one-yard touchdown run and Ross Muchnick hit the extra point, making it a 7-0 game.
 
On the Titans' first drive of the game, they made it to the 19, setting Kaden Junge up for a 36 yard field goal for a 7-3 game.
 
The Bears were forced to punt on their next three drives before putting more points on the board.
 
With just under seven minutes left in the second quarter, Kenvorris Campbell ran for 12 yards and a first down at the 37. He picked up another three yards on two runs before Rush ran for four yards to put the Bears at the 18. Muchnick lined up for a 35 yard field goal, giving the Bears a 10-3 lead at the half.
 
The Bears defense forced a turnover on downs on IWU's first drive of the second half and then went on to add another touchdown.
 
Rush launched a 40-yard pass to Sirek for a first down at the four yard line. Fred Ware picked up a yard and Levi Moore hit Grant Hajicek for a three-yard touchdown pass. Muchnick's kick was good, giving WashU a 17-3 edge over IWU.
 
The Bears next drive resulted in a punt, but the Titan's muffed the kick and it was recovered by Kellen Fraile, giving WashU the ball back on the IWU one yard line. Rush ran one yard for the touchdown and Muchnick hit the kick for a 24-3 Bears' lead with 6:08 remaining in the third quarter.
 
On the Titans' next drive, Grant Purdy sacked quarterback Dermot Smyth for a loss of two yards, forcing a punt that landed at the 43 for the Bears to set up their next drive.
 
Rush hit Hoythya for 18 yards and a first down at the 25. Kenvorris followed with a 25-yard touchdown run and Muchnick's kick was good for a 31-3 lead with 3:08 remaining in the third.
 
The Titans began what turned into a touchdown drive in the final three minutes of the third.
 
Seth Albin picked up seven yards and Smyth ran for three yards. Smyth then hit Myles Kee for a 12-yard pass and followed it with a six-yard shot to Matt Young. Albin ran for 10 more yards and a first down at the 37 and added another four yards on the next run. Smyth picked up 10 yards to put IWU on the 33 and a holding call moved the Titans up another 10 yards to the 23.
 
Smyth started the fourth quarter with a three-yard gain before IWU took a timeout. Albin notched a yard before Smyth lost two yards but picked up seven. Smyth's pass intended for Kevin Graham was incomplete but pass interference was called, putting the Titans on the two yard line. Albin sealed the deal with a two-yard touchdown run and Junge's kick was good, making it a 31-10 game with 12:26 remaining.
 
On IWU's next drive, the Titans reached the 21 before Smyth's pass was intercepted by Joseph Norris at the 50.
 
Hamilton ran for back-to-back gains of five and three yards, respectively, before Rush hit Hoyhtya for 28 yards, putting the Bears on the 14 with a first down. Hamilton added another 13 yards on two runs for a first down and Ware closed it out with a one-yard touchdown run. Muchnick's was good, putting WashU up 38-10.
 
Offensively, WashU finished with 349 yards of total offense – 221 passing, 128 rushing. Rush went 13-for-22 with 214 yards.
 
Hamilton led the Bears' rushing efforts with 55 yards on 11 attempts with one touchdown. Campbell finished with 46 yards on seven attempts and a touchdown while Ware had 38 yards on seven attempts and a touchdown.
 
Sirek was the top receiver for WashU, finishing with 62 yards on four catches. Hoyhtya had 55 yards on three catches and Zachary Ginsburg finished with 46 yards on three catches.
 
Defensively, Matthew Schmal had 11 total tackles with four solo, two tackles for a loss and one sack. Purdy had seven total tackles with one tackle for a loss and one sack while Henry Murr finished with seven total tackles, 0.5 tackles for a loss and 0.5 sacks. Emmanuel Jenkins had five total tackles with three pass breakups.
 
The Bears host Augustana next weekend at 1 p.m. on Francis Olympic Field.