St. Louis, Mo. – The RV Washington University in St. Louis football team had five interceptions and broke the program record for longest kickoff return touchdown on Saturday afternoon, defeating North Park 41-7. The Bears are now 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the CCIW.
 
WashU's defense came up big on the first drive of the game. On the first play, quarterback Matt Eck's pass intended for Jereme Ombogo was intercepted by Emmanuel Jenkins, giving the Bears the ball.
 
Kenneth Hamilton opened WashU's drive with a 10 yard run for a first down. Following a sack that resulted in a loss of seven yards, quarterback Matt Rush hit Gabriel Sirek for a 17-yard pass and a first down at the Bears' 41.
 
Hamilton picked up another yard and Rush ran for eight yards. Hamilton ran two more yards for a first down at the 48 and Rush added another seven yards.
 
North Park was called for an offside, giving the Bears five more yards. Rush then connected with Collin Hoyhtya for a 36-yard touchdown and Ross Muchnick's kick was good, making it a 7-0 lead.
 
North Park went on to tie things up on the next drive.
 
Marcel Love picked up three yards on two runs and Eck hit Wesley McCloud for seven yards for a first down at the Vikings' own 36. Love added another four yards and Eck connected with Bryan Boyd for a 10-yard first down at the 50. Quadrell Hill added a yard and Eck found Jakob Dreksler for an 18-yard pass for a first down at the 31.
 
Eck hit McCloud for a six-yard pass but North Park lost five yards following an illegal substitution. Following a pass interference call that gave the Vikings 10 more yards, Eck hit Love for 10 yards for a first down at the 10. AJ Harris lost three yards before Eck found Ombogo for a 13-yard touchdown pass. Michael Messersmith's kick was good, tying things 7-7.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, Goldberg caught the ball at the three and ran it back for a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown. For the second week in a row, Goldberg has broken a program record, this week setting a new record for a kickoff return touchdown, which was previously 95 yards set in 1999. Muchnick's kick was good, putting WashU up 14-7 with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter.
 
After reaching the 14 on the next drive, the Bears fumbled the ball and it was recovered by NPU's Dylan Hughes to put the ball back in the Vikings' hands.
 
WashU's defense continued to dominate on the following drive as Ryan Schmadtke intercepted Eck's pass at the 11.
 
Fred Ware started with a 13-yard run to the Bears' 45 for a first down. He picked up another two yards before unleashing for 19 yards for a first down at the 34. Ware picked up another 12 yards for another first down and Rush hit Hamilton for 16 yards, putting the Bears on the six. Hamilton finished out the job with a six-yard touchdown run and Muchnick's kick was good for a 21-7 WashU lead.
 
The Bears defense forced a punt on the next drive and WashU began its drive at the 24.
 
Hamilton ran for one yard and Rush picked up 11 yards for a first down at the Bears' 36. Rush followed with a 19-yard pass to Sirek for a first down at the 45 and Hamilton added another three yards. Rush connected with Sirek again for a 29-yard pass to the 18 for a first down.
 
Kenvorris Campbell picked up two yards but following a sack that resulted in a loss of five yards, the Bears brought in Muchnick for a 39-yard field goal, which he made for a 24-7 WashU lead.
 
Both the Bears' and the Vikings' nextdrives resulted in punts. With 12:45 remaining in the third quarter, WashU started another drive.
 
Campbell started things with a one-yard run. The Bears moved up five yards following a North Park offside call and another 10 after a Vikings' holding call. Campbell recorded runs of five and three yards and the Bears picked up five more yards on another North Park offside call.
 
Rush hit Sirek for a 27-yard pass, putting the Bears at the 12 for a first down. Campbell ran for a 12-yard touchdown on the next play and Muchnick's kick was good, giving the Bears a 31-7 lead with 9:42 remaining in the third.
 
On North Park's next drive, Bradley Hamilton intercepted the ball at the 36, giving WashU the possession.
 
The Bears were forced to punt on the following drive, but on the third play of North Park's drive, Andrew Dotson intercepted Eck's pass at the 21, returning it for a touchdown. Muchnick's kick was good, putting the Bears ahead 38-7 with 3:22 left in the third.
 
WashU's defense recorded another turnover as Nate Light intercepted Eck's pass on the next drive, making it the third North Park drive in a row that resulted in a pick.
 
The Bears opened the fourth quarter with a 12-yard pass from Rush to Goldberg for a first down at the WashU 13. Hamilton picked up 13 and six yards, respectively. Rush gained five yards for a first down at the Bears' 44 followed by a 10-yard run by Ware for a first down at the 41.
 
Ware added another two yards and Hamilton ran for eight for a first down at the 31. Ware picked up 21 yards for a first down and then ran for another seven on three rushes.
 
The Bears set up for a 45-yard field goal and Muchnick's kick was successful, giving the Bears the 41-7 lead that held until the end.
 
WashU finished with 400 yards of total offense – 223 rushing and 177 passing. Rush went 10-for-16 with 177 yards and one touchdown.
 
Ware led the Bears rushing efforts with 98 yards on 11 attempts. Hamilton picked up 62 yards on 13 attempts with a touchdown and Campbell had 29 yards on seven attempts with a touchdown.
 
Sirek had 97 yards on five catches while Hoyhtya had 36 yards on one catch and one touchdown.
 
Defensively, WashU had five interceptions – one short of tying the program record.
 
Matthew Schmal led the Bears with five total tackles while Bradley Hamilton had four total with one interception. Riley Merrigan had four total tackles and Ryan Schmadtke had three tackles and an interception. Also recording interceptions were Jenkins, Light and Dotson.
 
The Bears hit the road next weekend for a 1 p.m. game at Illinois Wesleyan.