ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The RV Washington University in St. Louis football team moved to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the CCIW with a 38-7 win over Carthage.
 
The Bears put a pair of touchdowns on the board in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead over the Firebirds.
 
After two forced punts for Carthage, the Bears started their drive at their own 42. Fred Ware ran for a yard before Matt Rush picked up five yards. WashU scored when Rush connected with Collin Goldberg for a 52-yard touchdown. Ross Muchnick's kick was good, giving WashU a 7-0 lead.
 
WashU's defense forced another Firebirds punt after holding them to the 46. The Bears went on to score on the following drive.
 
Rush hit Taidhgin Trost for a six-yard pass and Kenvorris Campbell ran back-to-back for seven and three yards. Rush connected with Sirek for a 39-yard first down at the 26. Campbell notched another two yards before Levi Moore connected with Sirek for 14 yards for a first down at the 10 and Moore finished it out with a 10-yard touchdown run. Muchnick's kick was good, putting the Bears up 14-0 with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter.
 
After being forced to punt, the Bears defense came up big, forcing a Carthage fumble, which was snagged by Salomon Dessalines and ran back for a three-yard touchdown.
 
With one minute remaining in the second quarter, Rush was sacked and the ball was recovered by Carthage. The Firebirds went on to score on the ensuing play. Jordan Wiles went on to score a 20-yard touchdown and Sebastian Haske's kick was good, making it a 21-7 game.
 
On the Bears next drive, Hamilton picked up eight yards, Rush hit Hoyhtya for nine yards and Hamilton ran for another eight yards. Hoyhtya snagged a 17-yard pass from Rush for a first down at the 13 and Muchnick lined up for a field goal, which was good, putting WashU ahead 24-7.
 
The Bears scored on their first play of the third quarter. Rush found Goldberg for a 22-yard gain. Following an 11-yard loss because of a fumble, Fred Ware unleashed for 32-yards for a first down at the 32. Ware picked up another three yards and then Rush hit Trost for 15 yards. Trost caught another pass for a one-yard gain.
 
The Bears had a loss of six on a run and 11 on a sack, but proved resilient as Rush fired off a 30-yard pass to Goldberg for a touchdown. Muchnick converted the kick, making it a 31-7 game.
 
On the following drive, Carthage scored but the touchdown was called back due to a penalty. The Bears then stopped the Firebirds and forced them to turn it over on downs.
 
Starting at the four, the Bears were hit with a false start penalty, losing two yards. Campbell picked up a yard to the three and then Rush hit Goldberg for a 97-yard touchdown, breaking the program record for longest touchdown pass. The previous record was 94 yards, set in both 1994 and 2018.
 
Muchnick hit the extra-point kick, giving the Bears the 38-7 win over the Firebirds.

WashU finished with 500 yards of total offense (353 passing, 147 rushing).The Bears defense limited Carthage to 235 yards of total offense (169 passing, 66 rushing).
 
Rush finished 20-for-28 with 331 passing yards and three touchdowns.
 
Goldberg led all receivers with 194 yards on six catches, scoring three touchdowns. Sirek had 72 yards on five catches and Hoyhtya finished with 49 yards on four catches.
 
Hamilton led the Bears rushing efforts with 52 yards on seven attempts. Campbell picked up 47 yards on eight attempts.
 
Defensively, Bradley Hamilton finished with eight total tackles (three solo, five assists). Ryan Schmadke, Matthew Schmal and Brady Willmer all had seven total tackles. Schmadtke and Schmal both had 0.5 tackles for a loss while Willmer had 1.5.
 
The Bears are home again next Saturday against North Park at 1 p.m.