Memphis, Tenn. September 13, 2014 – The Washington University in St. Louis football team could not overcome some early miscues and turnovers as the Bears suffered a 46-22 loss at Rhodes College Saturday night at Crain Field in Memphis. It marked the first night game in Rhodes College history.
Rhodes improves to 2-0 with the win, while Washington U. falls to 0-2. The Bears have lost five-straight games in Memphis, and have not won at Crain Field since 2004.
After a quick start in the season-opening loss to Ohio Northern, the Bears started slow in week two against the Lynx. Rhodes QB Blake Box found Gerald Perry open for a six-yard TD pass on the second possession of the game. The Lynx went for two to make it 8-0 with 7:03 left in the first quarter.
Rhodes took advantage of the first turnover of the season after sophomore WR Hank Childs fumbled and recovered by the Lynx on the 24-yard line. Two plays later, Box connected with Jonathan Wiener for a 17-yard TD on a fade route to push the lead to 15-0.
Sophomore kicker Alex Hallwachs split the uprights with a 25-yard FG to trim the lead to 15-3, but a second miscue led to the Rhodes third TD of the half after Roc Sherrell scored from one-yard out to make it 22-3. Box continued to shred the WUSTL defense as he found Perry open across the field for a 54-yard TD to push the advantage to 29-3. The TD for Box was his third of the half.
Rhodes was not done yet as Sherrell scored from five yards out with 27 seconds left before half to make it 36-3. The Lynx had a 269-175 advantage in total offense in the opening half, and scored on five of its eight possessions, including the last three. Rhodes forced four three-and-outs in the opening half and took advantage of two Washington U. turnovers.
The Bears took the opening kickoff of the third quarter 14 plays for 61 yards, and capped it off with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Tomlin to junior running back Cody Ratermann on fourth down to trim the lead to 36-10. After a 25-yard field goal by Rhodes kicker Tucker Nichols, Washington U. drove right back down the field and junior running back Alex Graham capped a 14-play, 79-yard drive with a one-yard TD run to make it 39-16.
WUSTL rounded out the scoring with less than nine minutes left in the game after Tomlin found senior wide receiver Ryan Lubatkin across the middle for a 15-yard TD pass.
Rhodes had a 430-390 advantage in total offense, and held a 34:58-25:02 mark in time of possession. Tomlin was 24-of-47 for a career-high 250 yards and two TDs, while junior quarterback Seamus Finnegan was 4-of-8 for 37 yards. The Bears struggled run for the ball for the second-straight game, picking up 103 yards on 37 carries. Senior running back Zach Lonneman had 48 yards on 12 carries. Sophomore WR Kevin Hammarlund had a career-high seven receptions for 82 yards in the loss.
Sophomore defensive lineman Bob Liu led the defensive unit with a career-high 10 tackles, while senior Fade Oluokun had nine stops. Sophomore Dylan Newcomb was the lone bright spot on special teams with seven kick returns for 167 yards (23.9 average), with a long of 38.
Washington U. returns home to host North Park University Saturday, Sept. 20. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Francis Field.
Bear Notebook: Rhodes leads the all-time series 26-24-1, and the teams were meeting for the 27th-straight season … WUSTL has been outscored 45-7 this season in second quarter … The Bears played their 997th game in school history … The interception by junior Quincy Marting was the seventh of his career … The Bears are 0-2 for the first time since 2012, and for the third time in head coach Larry Kindbom's 26 seasons.