ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Six turnovers would be the story on Saturday evening as Washington Unviersity (Mo.) was able to take advantage of the Rhodes College football team's mistakes en rout to a 37-7 win at Francis FIeld.
For the Lynx, it was a tough day on both sides of the ball, only manging 181 yards of total offense to go with the six giveaways while the Bears were able to pile up 529 yards of total offense.
After a three-and-out from the Rhodes offense, WashU was able to move into Lynx territory, looking for the early lead on a 52-yard field goal. Senior
Trey Hooper was able to break through and block the kick to keep the game scoreless early on in the first quarter.
After another three-and-out, the Bears were able to convert this time on field goal after a 13-play, 49 yard drive fo the early 3-0 lead.
The Rhodes was unable to muster up much offense early on, struggling to move the ball. They were able to move into WashU territory late in the first half, but a failed fourth down conversion turned the ball over on downs.
From there, WashU was able to move ahead 10-0 before the end of the first and followed that up with an interception of junior
Austin Henyon gave the Bears the ball right back as the game moved into the second quarter.
WashU was able to tack on another field goal to move ahead 13-0, and would increase the lead to 20-0 after another failed fourth down conversion by the Lynx in Bears territory.
Another turnover from the Lynx gave WashU great field position again to move the game to 27-0, which is where the score stood going into the break.
The Bears would score again to open the second half to move ahead 34-0 and would continue to give the Lynx offense trouble as through three quarters, WashU held a 37-0 lead.
Rhodes would not give up as they were able to spoil the shutout in the fourth quarter as junior
Sam Yarborough found junior
Brandon Box for six to cut slightly into the large deficit. It would not be enough as the Lynx would drop their second road contest of the season.
Henyon finished 6-for-17 for 61 yards and an interception while Yarborough went 10-for-17 for 112 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. The ground game could not get anything going for the Lynx, totaling only eight yards on 24 carries. Senior
Jonathan Wiener hauled in four catches for 50 yards while senior
Matt Baldwin added three catches for 50 yards.
Defensively, junior
Matt Nungesser led the way with 10 tackles while junior
John Dodd added eight tackles. Hooper and senior
Michael Shield each had seven tackles with Shield adding 2.5 tackles for loss while seniors
Joseph Sparkman and
Wyatt McRae each had a sack and forced fumble.
The Lynx move to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in SAA play. Rhodes will prepare to return home next weekend and look to bounce back in the Third Annual Blues Bowl against the University of Chicago. The SAA contest is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
