MEMPHIS - Despite a 28 point second half, the Rhodes College football team dug itself a hole in the first half as the Lynx could not slow down the Washington University offense, to go with three first half turnovers, in a 56-35 loss at Crain Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears nearly broke the total offense mark that Rhodes set a week ago against Sewanee, going for 639 yards including 429 yards in the air. The Lynx were not quiet by any means on offense, racking up 434 yards including 225 on the ground.

The glaring stats that downed the Lynx on Saturday was the three first half turnovers, leading to 14 points, and the Bears going 10 of 13 on third down on the afternoon as well as 1-for-1 on fourth down.

WashU came out firing, going 70 yards on 11 plays including eight completed passes by J.J. Tomlin resulting in a 14 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Hammarlund for the early 7-0 lead.

Rhodes moved the ball to midfield on their drive, picking up chunks of yardage in the process, but a Nick Doctors interception stalled the drive and gave the Bears the ball back.

Tomlin was on target again, leading WashU 61 yards down the field in 10 plays results in a nine yard touchdown pass to Marcus Ramspott for the two touchdown lead. 

Rhodes drove 45 yards down the field in nine plays, getting to the Bear 19 yard line, but a second interception proved to be costly and left the Lynx with no points again. However, the Rhodes defense responded with a three and out and the Lynx went back to work after a shanked punt.

The Lynx drove down the field in four plays behind the feet of senior Roc Sherrell and sophomore P.J. Settles including runs of 19 and 13 from Settles. Sherrell punched it in from one yard out to make it a 14-7 game towards the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was all WashU, as they out scored the Lynx 21-0 behind a pair of touchdown passes from Tomlin and a one yard touchdown run from Austin Smestad. Rhodes found themselves down 35-7 at the break despite the Lynx offense moving the ball well.

However, Rhodes put together a beautiful opening drive to start the second half, going 75 yards in 12 plays including a pair of long completions from Settles to senior Brandon Box and sophomore Josh Lucas. Sherrell would get his second TD of the game on another two yard score, gaining some momentum back despite being down by three scores.

WashU had an answer though as Tomlin led the Bears down the field in nine plays, eating up 78 yards, and resulting in a six yard touchdown run by Smestad.

The Lynx had yet another answer on their second drive. After a 15 yard by Sherrell which included a face mask penalty, Settles found his favorite target, Box, who broke a pair of tackles and scampered 41 yards for the score to make it 42-21.

The Bears closed the game for good though as they closed the third quarter with a 12 play, 75 yard drive eating up six minutes of clock time as Jack Mills ran four straight times for 43 yards, scoring from a yard out.

Sherrell and Settles each added a touchdown run in the fourth quarter while WashU added one more score through the air to make the final score 56-35 and give the Bears their first win in Memphis since 2004.

For the second straight game, the Lynx had two 100 yard rushers as Settles finished with 21 carries for 104 yards and a score while Sherrell added 25 carries for 100 yards and three scores. Settles went 14-for-29 for 209 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions.

Box was the leading receivers with 138 yards on seven catches while Lucas added two catches for 36 yards. Rhodes was 10-for-17 on third down and 2-for-2 on fourth down.

It was a tough day for the Lynx defense overall with sophomore Charlie Hughes leading the way with 13 tackles and an interception. Senior John Dodd added 11 tackles while sophomore Duke Sherrell and junior Elliott Tostrud each had eight tackles.

Senior Matt Nungesser had six tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss while senior Jack Ingalls had five tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss.

Freshman Saije Sharkey had six returns for 165 yards, averaging 27.5 yards per return including a 48 yard return.

Rhodes will prepare for a two game road trip beginning next Saturday as they go to the midwest to take on the University of Chicago. Kick off is scheduled for 1:30 PM in the fourth and final Blues Bowl.