SALEM, Ore. - Spencer Payne rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns as No. 2 Linfield beat Willamette 49-7 in Northwest Conference football Saturday afternoon at McCulloch Stadium. With the win, the Wildcats (5-0 overall, 3-0 NWC) clinched their 60th consecutive winning season, a record for all levels of college football.
A frustrating first half gave way to a flurry of third-quarter points as Linfield extended a 7-0 lead at intermission to 35-0 by the start of the final period. The outburst included a string of four touchdowns in just over five minutes, with the last two of those scored by the Wildcat defense.
The sizeable Linfield contingent chanted "Sixty! Sixty! Sixty!" as the clock ticked down to the Wildcats' fifth win of 2015, assuring them a winning record at season's end.
"It's a big deal getting to 60," Linfield head coach Joseph Smith said of the Wildcats' string of winning seasons. "I'd been looking ahead to this for a couple of years, and we wanted to get our winning percentage over 80 (during The Streak), and we did."
Since the start of the 1956, season, Linfield has an overall record of 475-109-10 for a winning percentage of .808.
"Those are some pretty neat numbers," said Smith, who was part of The Streak as a player at Linfield from 1989-92 and then as an assistant coach until taking over as head coach in 2006."
Linfield now gets ready for a battle of unbeaten as it hosts Whitworth (6-0, 3-0 NWC) in NWC play next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Maxwell Field.
On Saturday, Linfield did its part to set up the showdown. The Wildcats got a rare regular-season challenge in the first half, which was fine with Smith.
"I was very pleased," Smith said. "Obviously you want to play better, but I was pleased with the way we struggled offensively and with having to work through that. We knew Willamette would be competitive on defense – they're a good defensive team."
Linfield began turning yards into points in the third quarter. The Wildcats had outgained the Bearcats 268-58 in the first two periods but had only a 7-0 lead to show for it. The touchdown came early in the second quarter, as Payne carried on all four plays of a 61-yard drive, scoring on an 18-yard run.
But Linfield also missed a pair of field goals in the first quarter, had an unsuccessful fake, and fumbled away a scoring chance. It didn't look much better when the Wildcats went three-and-out to start the third quarter, and Willamette could entertain thoughts of an upset similar to last season, when they knocked off Linfield 31-28 in McMinnville.
That dream died quickly, though, near the midpoint of the third quarter.
The 'Cats defense forced a three-and-out of its own, and Linfield then drove 75 yards in seven plays for a 14-0 lead with 8:24 remaining in the period. Payne bounced around the left end for seven yards and the touchdown.
Another three-and-out set Linfield's offense up at its own 34-yard line and it took just two plays to score. Sam Riddle hit a streaking Eric Igbinoba down the left sideline for 65 yards and the touchdown, making it 21-0 with 6:16 left in the third quarter.
Riddle finished 14 for 24 passing for 212 yards and a touchdown.
"We moved the ball in the first half but didn't finish, and getting points is the name of the game," Smith said. "Our defense was playing well, and it was just a matter of time until we started scoring."
The leader of that effort was senior defensive end Alex Hoff, who had three tackles for lost yardage, including one quarterback sack, and two pass breakups in the first half.
Hoff had last season's upset on his mind, and was determined there would be no repeat.
"Oh, yeah," Hoff said. "You had to take that into consideration. It was frustrating last year, embarrassing – we had to make a statement."
Linfield's defense held Willamette to a 1-for-12 mark on third-down conversions, and the Wildcats outgained the Bearcats 536-190 for the game.
The statement by the defense got even bigger toward the end of the third quarter.
On Willamette's next possession, quarterback Ryan Knowleton was picked off over the middle by Linfield linebacker Mitchell Kekel and he returned it 26 yards for a score, making it 28-0 with 4:33 to go in the period.
The Bearcats got the ball back and this time Knowlton was sacked by defensive linemen Asa Schwartz and Ty Farber; he lost the ball and Schwartz ran the fumble back 23 yards for the touchdown. That gave Linfield a 35-0 lead with 3:07 remaining in the period, capping a run of four 'Cat touchdowns in 5:17.
Linfield added a 1-yard run by Bryan Cassill early in the fourth quarter to make it 52-0. Willamette got on the board with Jack Valencia's 50-yard run just over a minute later, and the Wildcats closed the scoring on Sutter Choisser's 31-yard run 8:48 from the finish.
'CAT SCRATCH - Since the start of the 2013 season, a span of 30 games, Linfield has reached the 50-point mark 15 times and held opponents to 14 points or less 19 times. In that time, there have been 11 games where both things occurred …
In 2015, Linfield has secured its 60th consecutive winning season; the Wildcats' streak, which began in 1956, is the longest in the history of college football at any level. During The Streak, Linfield is 475-109-10 for a winning percentage of .808
Second-half eruption carries Linfield past Willamette 49-7
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20151017_gjr4.xml
2015
Linfield
49
Willamette
7
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Linfield (5-0) | 0 | 7 | 28 | 14 | 49 |
| Willamette (1-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Oct 17, 2015