McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Sam Riddle passed for 124 yards and two touchdowns in a quarter-and-a-half of action and 10 Linfield ballcarriers rushed for 224 yards as the No. 5 Wildcats beat George Fox 59-0 Saturday afternoon in Northwest Conference football at Maxwell Field.
A sun-splashed crowd watched the Wildcats and Bruins meet in varsity football for the first time in over seven decades, and the result was largely similar to their last meeting in 1942, a 50-0 Wildcat win. George Fox's program was restarted this year after a break of over 40 years, having been discontinued after the 1969 season.
Against the first-year Bruins, Linfield (4-0, 2-0 NWC) scored four touchdowns in a span of 3 minutes, 9 seconds midway through the first quarter to take a 28-0 lead. George Fox (0-4, 0-2 NWC) was intercepted twice and fumbled away a kickoff during that span.
By halftime, Linfield added another 17 points to lead 45-0. The Wildcats held the Bruins without a first down until 2:40 remained in the half.
For the game, Linfield limited George Fox to 82 yards total offense, including 14 rushing, and five first downs. The Wildcats forced four turnovers – three interceptions and one fumble – and turned three of those into touchdowns, including interception returns for scores by linebacker Mike Nardoni and monsterback Skylor Elgarico.
Riddle completed 9 of 16 passes for 124 yards and two scores without throwing an interception before giving way to his backups midway through the second quarter. One of those, Tom Knecht, led Linfield in rushing with 51 yards on four carries; Tavon Willis had two touchdowns and 21 yards on his four carries. Poppen topped Wildcat receivers with five catches for 90 yards as Linfield had 10 different players with at least one reception.
Linfield finished with 431 yards total offense, gaining an average of 5.4 yards per play on the afternoon.
After a pair of three-and-out possessions to start the game, the Wildcats' scoring burst began with 8:34 left in the first quarter with a six-yard run by Willis. That capped a 55-yard, three-play drive that included a 43-yard pass from Riddle to Charlie Poppen.
On George Fox's second play after the kickoff, Bruin quarterback Grant Schroeder was intercepted by Jordan Giza, who returned it 16 yards to the GFU 19. Linfield scored in three plays, Riddle scampering in from 10 yards out for a 14-0 lead.
On the next possession, it was Nardoni picking off Schroeder and returning it 32 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown, making it 21-0 with 5:52 left in the period.
The Bruins fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and Wildcat Jordan Powell recovered at the Bruin 28. After an incomplete pass and a personal foul against George Fox, Willis scored again, this time from 14 yards out for a 28-0 lead at the 5:25 mark of the opening quarter.
George Fox forced Linfield into an extended drive late in the quarter, making the Wildcats take eight plays to go 56 yards. The touchdown came on an 11-yard pass from Riddle to Evan Peterson to push Linfield's advantage to 35-0.
Linfield tacked on another touchdown when Jeremy Girod hauled in a nine-yard pass from Riddle that made it 42-0, wrapping up a six-play, 45-yard drive. The Wildcats concluded their first-half scoring on Michael Metter's 49-yard field goal 3:28 before intermission.
As Linfield began substituting in the second quarter, the Bruins put together a drive that gave them a first down at the Wildcat 1 with about a minute to go in the second quarter. But Linfield stuffed a running play and got a quarterback sack from Asa Schwartz to force a 30-yard field goal try by Uriel Gonzalez; the Wildcats' Mitch Lewis leapt high to block the attempt as the half came to an end.
Linfield added another touchdown early in the third quarter on Elgarico's 14-yard interception return. The Wildcats finished the scoring with 11:20 left in the game when Knecht connected with Carroll on a three-yard pass, completing a nine-play, 53-yard drive.
For George Fox, Schroeder was 7-for-15 passing for 58 yards. Josh Shaffer, who started his career at Linfield, had 12 carries for a team-high 21 yards.
'CAT SCRATCH: Linfield now leads the all-time series against George Fox 6-4-1. In 1894, Linfield – then known as McMinnville College – played George Fox – then known as Pacific College – in the Wildcats' first-ever intercollegiate football game, losing 54-0. The two schools met in football several times between 1942 and 1969, but those games featured George Fox's varsity playing Linfield's junior varsity … with one more win this season, Linfield would assure itself a 59th consecutive winning season, extending its record for all levels of college football. The second-longest active streak belongs to Florida State, the nation's current No. 1-ranked team in Division I, at 37 seasons … the Wildcats debuted their new home uniforms, featuring purple jerseys and white pants that largely mimic the look of the Wildcats' traditional home togs but feature a performance-enhancing design by Nike … Saturday was also the first game on Maxwell Field's new FieldTurf surface. The old artificial turf had been in place since 2004; in that surface's first season, Linfield won the NCAA Division III national championship with an unbeaten season.
AHEAD: Linfield hosts Whitworth in the annual Homecoming game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Maxwell Field. Live pregame audio and videocast coverage starts at 1 p.m.
Wildcats flatten first-year Bruins 59-0
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141011_6eq8.xml
2014
George Fox
0
Linfield
59
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Fox (0-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 10 Linfield (4-0) | 35 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 59 |
Oct 11, 2014