ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst University football team could not hang on to a late second quarter lead, falling to Washington University in St. Louis 27-7 in front of a homecoming crowd. 

Elmhurst (0-3/0-1 CCIW) led 7-3 late in the first half, but WashU (2-1/2-0 CCIW) scored the game's final 24 points, including 17 in the second half, to pull away for the 27-7 victory. 

WashU led 3-0 after the first quarter, scoring their only points on a Chris Vartanian 33-yard field goal. Elmhurst took the lead in the second quarter after Joseph McKinley got behind the Bears' secondary and Noah Henkle hit him for a 52-yard touchdown strike. 

The Bluejays held onto the 7-3 lead late into the second quarter. Elmhurst had the ball at their own 34-yard line with 2:44 left in the half, but the Bluejays were forced to punt after a three-and-out. 

The Bears took over and took the lead just seven seconds before the half. Matt Rush capped the scoring drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Cole Okmin to give the Bears a 10-7 lead at the half. 

After the Bluejays punted on their opening possession of the second half, the Bears extended their lead, driving 51 yards and extending their cushion to 17-7 after Rush hit Okmin for an 11-yard touchdown. 

After a Bluejay turnover, WashU struck again as Rush connected with Jared Harrison for a 47-yard touchdown to put the Bears in front 24-7. Vartanian added a 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to account for the Bears' final points. 

Elmhurst finished with 182 yards of offense while the Bears compiled 422. WashU passed for 258 while rushing for 164. Elmhurst finished with 107 passing yards and 75 yards on the ground.

Henkel finished 10-of-22 for 107 yards and a touchdown while Julian Cavallo led the Bluejays on the ground with 66 yards on 22 carries. 

Rush paced WashU, completing 23-of-35 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Tennyson Holmes led the Bears on the ground with 79 yards on 14 carries. Okmin hauled in seven passes for 71 yards and two scores. 

Bryce Gable continued to put up monster numbers for the Bluejays' defense. Gable totaled 16 tackles, including 11 solo stops. He added 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Robert Hanrahan added eight tackles, including two for loss and a sack. Tyler Jolly and Zack Hazelhoff also added sacks for the Bluejays. 

Elmhurst travels to Illinois Wesleyan University next Saturday, October 2.