NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The (RV) Washington University in St. Louis football team fell to No. 1 North Central 49-9 on Saturday afternoon. The Bears are now 2-1 on the season with a 1-1 mark in CCIW play.
 
The Cardinals scored on their first drive of the day to go up 7-0. Following a touchback on kickoff, Joe Sacco picked up a gain of two yards and quarterback Luke Lehnen hit Thomas Skokna for 18 yards and a first down, then followed it up with a five-yard run. Sacco picked up another four yards and Charles Coleman added four, for a first down at the 42.
 
Coleman ran for seven yards and Lehnen hit Jack Rummell for seven yards. Sacco ran for another 18 yards for a first down and then finished things off with a 10-yard touchdown run. Sean Ryniec's kick was good.
 
Following a Bears' punt, the WashU defense stopped the Cardinals on their next drive. NCC made it to the 39 before senior Riley Merrigan intercepted Lehnen's pass.
 
WashU punted again on the ensuing drive but put points on the board during NCC's next possession. The Bears sacked Lehnen for a loss of seven and then, there was a bad snap on the punt attempt resulting in a safety, making it a 7-2 game.
 
After the Bears turned it over on downs for their second possession of the second quarter, the Cardinals extended their lead. Calvin Lavery completed a five-yard pass to Skokna and then hit Rummell for a 51-yard touchdown pass. Ryniec's kick was good, putting NCC up 14-2 with 3:47 remaining in the second quarter.
 
As the clock ticked down for the first half, junior Ryan Schmadtke picked off the second pass of the game, intercepting Lavery's pass to give the Bears the ball on their own 20.
 
The Bears' defense forced a missed field goal attempt from Ryniec to end the first half.
 
NCC opened the second half with another touchdown. Lavery hit Skokna for one yard but a holding penalty moved the Cardinals back to the 27. After back-to-back rushes that resulted in lost yards, Lavery connected with Bobby Behmer for 12 yards. Coleman ran for six yards before a loss of five yards and a fumble, that was recovered by NCC.
 
Sacco ran for six yards and Lavery connected with Jacob Paradee for eight yards. Coleman ran for 17 yards and a first down at the WashU three yard line and then finished it off with a three-yard touchdown run. Ryniec's kick was good, extending NCC's lead to 21-2 with 9:35 on the clock in the third quarter.
 
Merrigan intercepted another pass on the Cardinals' first play of their next drive, grabbing Lavery's pass that was intended for Sam Pryor and returning it for two yards.
 
The Bears turned it over on downs and NCC came out to add another touchdown on its next possession. Lavery ran for 15 yards and Jordan Chisum had three runs for 20 yards. Coleman had two runs for six yards and Lehnen found Skokna for a 37-yard touchdown pass. Ryniec's kick was good for a 28-2 lead.
 
On the opening drive of the fourth quarter, Lehnen hit Skokna for 27-yards and then found Myles Walton for a 41-yard touchdown. Ryniec's kick was good for a 35-2 Cardinals' lead.
 
The Bears scored on their next drive, starting with a pass from junior quarterback Luke Johnston to senior Collin Goldberg for seven yards. Junior Fred Ware ran for nine yards but then lost 10 yards before Johnson connected with Goldberg again for 27 yards and a first down at the 32. Ware picked up eight more yards and Johnston found junior Will Gardner for a four-yard pass.
 
Ware ran for five more yards and the Bears moved up five yards following an offside call on NCC. Johnston connected with junior Zachary Ginsburg for a 15-yard touchdown pass and sophomore Ross Muchnick's extra-point kick was good for a 35-9 game.
 
The Cardinals scored on the next drive, starting with a five-yard rush from Sean Allen, followed by a Lehnen rush for six yards and first down at the 19. Sacco picked up two yards before Lehnen hit Rummell for 27 yards.
 
Lehnen ran for 15 yards, but the Cardinals were whistled for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Coleman ran for three yards and Lehnen added another nine before connecting with Paradee for 14 yards. Chisum ran 20 yards before scoring a six-yard touchdown. Ryniec's kick was good for a 42-9 lead.
 
On the Bears' next drive, Johnston's pass at the 23 was intercepted by Jahmar Daniel and ran in for a touchdown. Ryniec's kick was good, closing things out with a 49-9 NCC win.
 
WashU had 145 yards of total offense (91 passing, 54 rushing) to NCC's 556 yards (318 passing, 238 rushing).
 
Senior Kenneth Hamilton had 34 yards on seven runs while senior Kenvorris Campbell had 14 yards on six runs. Goldberg led the receivers with 43 yards on five catches and Ginsburg had 35 yards on three catches with a touchdown.
 
Defensively, junior Caiden Hill had nine total tackles with one tackle for loss. Senior Grant Purdy had eight tackles with one tackle for loss and one forced fumble. Schmadtke recorded eight total tackles with one forced fumble, one interception and one pass breakup. Merrigan had four total tackles with two interceptions for 11 total yards.
 
The Bears now set their sights on Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday on the road. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Tucci Stadium. WashU will return home on Saturday, October 12 to face off with Carthage.