Box Score
Knox College and Washington University had met six other times prior to Saturday night's game at Francis Field in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Bears continued their run of having never lost to the Prairie Fire.
Wash U. scored on all five of its first-half possessions and went on to beat Knox 34-3. The Bears led 27-0 at the intermission, outgaining the Prairie Fire 275 yards to 40. Senior Jim O'Brien scored the first touchdown for hosts on a 10 yard run with 8:32 to play in the first quarter, capping off a nine play, 69 yard drive.
O'Brien, sixth on the Bears all-time rushing list, finished the game with 118 yards on 18 carries. He did most of the damage in the first half: 15 rushing attempts for 105 yards.
Wash U. scored again about six minutes later in the first stanza when quarterback Steve Sherman hit Brennan Fox with a five yard touchdown pass that put the Bears up 14-0. Wash U. added two more touchdowns and a 44 yard field goal in the second quarter.
Knox struggled offensively, gaining just 40 yards in the first half and 134 for the game. The Prairie Fire's lone score was a 35-yard field goal by junior Sam Frank (River Forest, Illinois) with 12:24 to play. Knox put together a 13 play, 50 yard drive to set up Frank's kick and avoid the shutout.
Sophomore Derek Mortensen (Crystal Lake, Illinois) led the Prairie Fire ground game, which tallied 75 rushing yards, with 32 yards on nine carries.
Knox gained 59 yards through the air. Senior quarterback Bill Meyer (Cary-Grove, Illinois) and first-year Drew Diaz (Niles, Illinois) combined for 5-of-14 passing for 59 yards and no interceptions. Junior Randy Whitmore (Albany, Illinois) led the receiving corps with one catch for 31 yards on a pass from Diaz.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Will Grumke (Kirkwood, Missouri) and senior defensive back Danny Salvato (Glenview, Illinois) each had a team-high nine tackles. One of Grumke's stops was for a loss.
The victory by Wash U. gives the school an overall record of 6-0-1 in the all-time series against Knox College.
Knox begins Midwest Conference play next Saturday afternoon at 1:00 at Lawrence University. The Vikings lost their season opener at St. Scholastica 31-24. Lawrence jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the game, but the Saints rallied and grabbed the lead late in the fourth quarter, a lead they'd never give up.
