No. 15 Linfield Makes College Football History With 37-6 Win

The Wildcats remained in the NWC title hunt, setting up a showdown next weekend at defending champion Whitworth.

Taylor Summers and the Wildcat defense sacked Oaks QB's four times. Photo courtesy: Linfield College

McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Another weekend, another dominating defensive performance for the Linfield Wildcats.

No. 15 Linfield handcuffed Menlo for 94 yards of offense in a 37-6 Northwest Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Conner Field.

The victory locked up a 52nd consecutive winning season for Linfield (5-2, 3-1 NWC), extending the longest run of winning campaigns in the history of college football.

Linfield’s last losing season was in 1955.

Equally important, the Wildcats remained in the NWC title hunt, setting up a showdown next weekend at defending champion Whitworth.

Menlo (1-7, 1-4 NWC) lost its third straight contest.

Linfield opened the scoring six minutes into the first quarter as Scott Birkhofer booted a 32-yard field goal, capping an 11-play drive on the Wildcats’ first possession.

A turnover set up the Linfield’s next score.

Cornerback Andrew Woods intercepted Oaks quarterback Tony Rehn at the Menlo 35, returning the ball 31 yards. Three running plays later, Pete Cruickshank bolted over the goal line from eight yards out.

Linfield added to its advantage midway through the second quarter, marching 58 yards in 12 plays. Quarterback Trevor Scharer snuck over from the 2, but the extra point failed.

The Wildcats controlled the ball for 19 minutes of the first half, limiting the Oaks to 34 yards through two quarters.

Scharer passed for two touchdowns in the span of 15 seconds of the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

After Tyson Banker caught a 5-yard pass from Scharer to make it 23-0 with 8:47 left, the Oaks fumbled the ensuing kickoff at their own 27.

Scharer and the Wildcats needed just one play to turn the game into a rout, connecting with Josh Vierra near the goal line.

The Oaks got their only points in the third quarter, cashing in a fumbled handoff at the Linfield 1. Oaks halfback Shaun Souza dove over for a touchdown with 6:51 left in the period.

Backup quarterback Aaron Boehme passed 13 yards to John Torsey for the Wildcats’ final score. The TD wrapped up a 13-play drive that covered 64 yards.

Wildcats linebacker Drew Ragan had six tackles and safety Brian Mehl totaled five stops to lead a defense that held the Oaks to 9 yards rushing and 85 passing.

Scharer completed 13 of 26 passes for 178 yards and two TDs. He was not sacked and did not throw an interception. Vierra caught five passes for 75 yards and Banker collected four balls for 49 yards.

Travis Masters ran for a game-high 103 yards, his third 100-yard game in four starts. Cruickshank rushed for 55 yards and Dan Lever gained 50 yards as the Wildcats rolled up a season-high 228 yards rushing. In all, Linfield amassed 434 yards of offense.

Souza had four catches for 33 yards and rushed for 10 yards to lead the Oaks. Menlo QB Tony Rehn was 8 of 16 for 52 yards. Angel Molina completed 3 of 7 for 33 yards but was sacked three times. In all the Wildcats totaled four sacks.

NEXT:

Linfield is on the road to Spokane next Saturday to face league leader Whitworth at the Pine Bowl. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. Menlo closes out its season with a home game against Puget Sound.

Source: Linfield Athletics

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