WashU’s offensive line was dominant against Carthage as the Bears ran for 469 yards. (Yiwen Zha | Student Life)

Fred Ware had been waiting for his opportunity for a long time. 

The junior halfback from Carrollton, Texas has sat behind senior back Kenneth Hamilton for his entire collegiate career. With Hamilton out due to an injury, Ware was given the opportunity to shine. He took advantage of it, running for two touchdowns of more than 60 yards each and accumulating 221 rushing yards, his highest total yardage at WashU.  

“You know, when I get the ball, I get a rush of adrenaline. I just feel blessed to go out there and do my job,” Ware said. 

Ware’s breakout performance helped lead the WashU football team to a 65-16 win over Carthage College on Oct. 12. WashU’s running backs combined for 469 rushing yards and six touchdowns in their blowout victory. 

“The [running] backs did a great job of exposing their defense, taking that space, and then finishing them off and getting points. It’s fun to watch that,” head coach Aaron Keen said. 

The win came one week after the Bears defeated Illinois Wesleyan University 33-23 on Oct. 5. Despite the victory, WashU did not leave Bloomington unscathed. Hamilton, who has been a dominant force in the WashU backfield all season, missed both games with an injury. WashU was also without sophomore quarterback Levi Moore against Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage. 

On the opening drive against Carthage, the Bears found themselves down. WashU struggled to keep the ball in their hands, and just five plays into the game, a Carthage defender intercepted a WashU pass attempt. It took three plays for the Firebirds to find the end zone, putting WashU behind early.

In the following drive, Ware immediately changed the tone of the game. The drive kickoff went for a touchback, setting up a first down at the 25-yard line. Ten seconds later, the game was tied. Ware ran for a career-long 75-yard touchdown. 

On the Bears’ next possession, it was senior running back Kenvorris Campbell who dominated the scoresheet. After drawing a flag on a third down, Campbell ran through the Carthage defense for a 63-yard touchdown. As the game transitioned into the second quarter, Campbell led with another rushing touchdown, combining with Ware for the majority of WashU’s forward progress on the drive. On the next Bears drive, senior quarterback Clark Stephens found sophomore receiver Makael Carter for a 62-yard touchdown reception across the middle of the field. After forcing a Carthage punt, Stephens connected with senior wideout Taidhgin Trost for another touchdown. By halftime, WashU’s offense had scored 35 points. 

“I mean, at halftime, we’re sitting with two backs over 100 yards, and so the challenge was to come back and have that similar type in the second half,” Keen said.

From there on, WashU dominated the Firebirds. With the loss, Carthage fell to 0-5 on the season, having only scored 33 points throughout the entire year. Throughout the game, WashU’s defense held Carthage to only 61 rushing yards and forced Carthage’s offense to punt nine times, while WashU’s junior punter Andrew Grisack did not have one attempt all game. 

Keen credits his team for being able to put together a complete performance while being short-handed. 

“I saw our guys show a lot of resiliency at practice, and coming back and playing the way they’re capable of playing,” he said. “We had what we termed a ‘Get Right’ week last week, and this was one where we just wanted to make sure we’re controlling what we can control and play[ing] great football.”

While Carthage added a field goal at the end of the second quarter and another touchdown in the third, WashU was able to keep their control over the game. The Bears opened the scoring in the second half with an 18-yard touchdown reception by graduate tight end Grant Hajicek. The run game closed out their dominant performance with rushing touchdowns from Ware and sophomores Cal Newell and Matthew Kinoshita. Kinoshita recorded his first touchdown with WashU in the win. 

“We have three to six dudes who all love each other, all want to compete together, and all want to see each other win,” Ware said about the team’s running backs. “So it doesn’t matter who’s on the field — we’re all supporting each other.”

With Stephens recovering from an injury, the Bears have been relying on their running backs more as the season has progressed. 

“One of our strengths has always been adaptability,” Keen said. “If a team has taken aspects of our offense away, or if we’re a little banged up at quarterback, it’s good to have a run game to settle things down.”

The Bears will travel to Elmhurst University next weekend. Although WashU dominated Elmhurst for a 66-0 victory last season, the Bears aren’t taking any game for granted.

“We take it one game at a time, we don’t take no team lightly, we want to go play our best football as a team,” Ware said. “Coach [Keen] has been talking all year about trying to put our best foot forward every game so we can make the playoffs.”