Junior Levi Moore’s late touchdown sealed the Bears’ 31-23 win over Carthage. (Jessi Szafoni | Contributing Photographer)

In the second overtime period of the WashU football team’s game against Carthage College on Oct. 11, junior quarterback Levi Moore was running out of options. 

The Firebirds’ defense had taken away the pass game, so Moore was forced to run. After immediately breaking a tackle from a Carthage lineman, the 185-pound scrambling quarterback broke two more tackles, diving into the end zone to give WashU the lead. The Bears would hold on to win 31-23, barely defeating a Carthage team that they beat by seven scores last year. 

For the second straight week, WashU football was been tested by one of its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) rivals. Last week, a late rally from Illinois Wesleyan University nearly eliminated a 23-point WashU lead. This week, a scrappy Carthage defense held its own against WashU’s strong run game. Neither CCIW opponent, however, could put the finishing touch on an upset. With the season halfway done, WashU improves to 4-1 on the season, the lone blemish to its record coming at the hands of No. 1 North Central College. 

After scoring over 40 points in three of their four games entering play Saturday, the Bears started uncharacteristically cold on offense. The first five WashU drives ended in punts, and the Bears did not have a drive of more than six plays until the end of the second quarter. Meanwhile, Carthage managed two rushing touchdowns, missing the extra point on its first score. With seconds to go in the second quarter, Moore connected with sophomore wideout Ryan Bienstock for a touchdown, giving WashU its first points of the game. 

The Bears took the lead early in the fourth quarter, as Moore ran in for a touchdown. With just four minutes left in the contest, WashU extended its lead with a receiving touchdown from junior receiver Makael Carter. However, the Bears missed the extra point, giving Carthage an opportunity to tie the game.

The Firebirds scored with just 31 seconds to go. An unsportsmanlike conduct call against Carthage pushed its extra point attempt back 15 yards — taking away the 2-point conversion to win, but Carthage still converted the extra point. WashU had an opportunity to drive down the field after the touchdown with three timeouts, but a holding call pushed WashU’s offense back. Moore and the WashU offense chose to kneel out the remaining time and send the game to overtime, tied at 20.

Carthage got the ball first and came tantalizingly close to the end zone, but a muffed snap on the 2-yard line and an incompletion forced the Firebirds to settle for a field goal. On WashU’s drive in the first overtime, the Firebirds successfully halted the Bears’ run game. Sophomore kicker Matias Adrogue nailed a tying field goal, keeping WashU in the game.  

The contest was the first time in 12 years that WashU football had gone to a second overtime period, and just the second time that Carthage had ever played in double-OT in program history. WashU got the ball first in the second period, with Moore and junior running back Matthew Kinoshita stringing together short runs to inch closer to the end zone. Moore then scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to put WashU back in the lead. On the two-point conversion, the Bears converted on a flea-flicker reception by Moore on a pass from senior quarterback-turned-receiver Luke Johnston. The Bears stuffed the Carthage offense on their final drive, clinching the Bears’ fourth victory of the season. 

WashU will return to Francis Field on Oct. 18 to face Elmhurst University in a CCIW matchup at 1p.m.