A battle of Northwest Conference co-leaders takes place Saturday at Maxwell Field in a game that is not only for bragging rights within Yamhill County, but also will all but determine which program is to represent the NWC in the NCAA Division III playoffs next month. In the 15th meeting between the two foes situated 15 short miles apart, No. 7 Linfield hosts No. 19 George Fox at Maxwell Field, Saturday, Oct. 21, at 1:30 p.m. The ticket booth and stadium gates open at 11:30 a.m.
 
Four weeks into NWC play, two of the nation's best square for the outright conference lead. The Wildcats (4-1, 3-0 NWC) are coming off a 49-14 wire-to-wire victory at Lewis & Clark. George Fox (5-1, 3-0 NWC) continues to make a name for itself with impressive wins, including last week's 58-12 drubbing of Willamette.
 THE DETAILS
No. 19 George Fox Bruins (5-1, 3-0 NWC) at No. 7 Linfield Wildcats (4-1, 3-0 NWC)

Kevin Nelson and Dave Hansen provide play-by-play radio coverage of Linfield football. Listen on TruTalk 800 KPDQ-AM for pregame with John Lee and local station KSLC 90.3 FM McMinnville at 1 p.m.
 
Nelson and Hansen also supply play-by-play on the Linfield Sports Network live video streaming service. Pay per view charges is $12. Radio coverage is provided at no cost.
 
ACCURATE PASSING + GROUND AND POUND
 
BRUINS
Averaging more than 380 yards of offense and over 35 points per outing, George Fox has shocked many with its ability to move the ball down the field with great efficiency.
 
Leading the way is quarterback Grant Schroeder, the conference's leading touchdown passer and rushing scorer. Schroeder, a senior, has tossed 14 touchdown passes and run for another six, giving him 20 majors on the season. A three-year starter, Schroeder has already accounted for more touchdowns this fall than he did for all of 2016 (10). Though Schroeder has impressed with his 60 percent completion percentage and 1,157 passing yards, he has thrown six interceptions through six games. A bonafide star in the NWC faces the task of taking care of the football and staying on track against one of the nation's best defenses.
 
George Fox ranks second in the NWC rushing yards behind only Linfield. The Bruins use a mixture of backs but remain consistent in the amount of touches per player. Junior tailback Wesley Riddell is the team's leading rusher with 326 yards on 65 carries (5.0 average) and has scored two touchdowns. Schroeder is right behind Riddell with 287 yards on 62 carries. Running backs Anthony Garcia and Jacob Swilley have combined for nearly 100 carries and more than 400 yards. Garcia could be dangerous with his 6.1 yards-per-carry average. Look for George Fox to stay consistent with the run. This is a team that likes to use motion to confuse a defense. The Bruins feature a zone running concept that gives Schroeder the discretion to keep the ball himself on option plays.
 
Underneath routes, screens and dump-offs give the Bruins flexibility to throw the ball deep as the game progresses. Schroeder has two go-to receivers in seniors Bran Lander and Lane Hadley. Both receivers have five touchdowns and have scored on plays 60 yards or more. Lander accounts for 385 yards while Hadley has 236 through six games. The Bruins like to use their running backs out of the shotgun, a formation that was prevalent against Whitworth. While the George Fox passing attack isn't considered high-powered, when paired with a solid rushing attack, it features enough proficiency to keep a defense guessing.
 
Standing 6-foot-6 and weighing 285 pounds, offensive tackle Nolan Schuler is expected to be a matchup problem for Linfield's pass rush unit.
 
WILDCATS
Earning his first-career start as a Wildcat after Troy Fowler was scratched from the Linfield lineup due to illness, sophomore, Aiden Wilder guided the offensive effectively against Lewis & Clark. Looking cool under pressure and accounting for three scores, Wilder was able to showcase his talents for the better part of four quarters.
 
If Fowler is indeed fit to play, expect to see the four-game starter back to his normal role. Fowler impressed in his most recent outing at Willamette and has taken pride in not turning the football over. Linfield quarterbacks have tossed nine touchdowns to five interceptions, accounting for more than 1,000 yards and an efficiency rating of 146.4.
 
Chidubem Nnoli, the leading rusher in the NWC (529 yards) continues to churn out yardage for the Wildcats. No NWC team has been able to slow the sophomore from Beaverton as he has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the last three games and scored five touchdowns. With Linfield committing itself to the run, Nnoli has quietly assumed the role as the workhorse back. Expect a healthy dose of senior Blake Burnette and freshman Dawson Ruhl out of the backfield to change the pace against the Bruins defense.
 
The Linfield receiving corps is settling into a grove. Wideouts Tyler Torgerson and J.D. Lasswell have both cracked the NWC's top 10 in receiving yardage, totaling more than half of Linfield's 1,011 aerial yards. Lasswell has caught a conference best five touchdowns while Torgerson is coming off his best game as a Wildcat with six catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Rising Kyle Kimball and Khory Day have turned heads when coming in off the bench. Look Linfield's playmakers to swing the momentum every chance they get on Saturday.
 
With just one missed kick this season, Wildcat kicker Willy Warne continues to be deadly accurate,. The sophomore has connected on 6-of-7 field goals and is a perfect 19-for-19 on PATs.
 
STOPPING THE RUN
Priority number one for both of these squads will be stopping the run. Lucky enough, the 'Cats and Bruins feature the two best run stuffing defense in the NWC.
 
BRUINS
Tied for the NWC-lead with 13 forced turnovers and a NWC-best 16 sacks, the Bruins defense is a scrappy bunch that takes pride in chasing down opposing quarterbacks. George Fox allows an average of 330 yards per game (third-fewest in the NWC) and just 114 yards on the ground, second to only Linfield. George Fox also boasts best scoring defense in the NWC (13.7 points per game).
 
First-team all-NWC linebacker Charles Riga leads the conference with a stellar 72 tackles this season. His 3.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss are good for second on the team behind Bruins superb defensive end Caleb Dalzell. Riga is the leader of the Bruins defense and will surely be the driving force for George Fox.
 
Together with Riga, the middle of the field is protected by linebacker Daniel Campos and safety Austin Taylor. Campos has collected 44 tackles to go along with an interception while Taylor who has 43 tackles with one interception. Defensive backs Rudy Hughes and Ryan Russo lead the team with two interceptions each.
 
WILDCATS
Leading the NWC with a stellar an average of 104 rushing yards allowed per game, Linfield's defense is the cream of the crop in the conference. The 'Cats allow 287 yards per game while giving up 14.7 points. Forcing 11 turnovers and piling up 12 sacks, the Linfield defense could possible steal the show Saturday against George Fox.
 
With Jake Reimer returning to his starting position alongside All-America candidate Jason Farlow, the two senior linebackers led the way against Lewis & Clark. Farlow tops the team with 47 tackles on the season and a team-best six tackles for loss.
 
Continuing to deliver big hits and timely tackles are safety Duke Mackle and rover Wade Ransom. The athletic duo have shared seven pass breakups and both have an interception on the season.
 
Hounding opposing quarterbacks are Zach Grate and Marcus McGovern. Together they have both forced multiple turnovers while pinning down the opposing quarterback eight times in 2017.
 
Nearly never tricked or confused, the Linfield defense faces a tough task against a Bruins offense that prefers quick motion behind the line of scrimmage and is content with dumping the ball to the flat to move the ball down the field.
 
OVERALL
Which team craves the NWC title the most? Ranked for the first time in program history, George Fox believes it's their turn to claim the conference trophy. With the way George Fox is playing and the way the conference has played out, it's not an unreasonable assertion. But the kingpin in the conference is defending its home turf in front of what's expected to be a capacity crowd at Maxwell Field. The energy generated by the home field should surely play a factor.
 
This is a tango worth watching as the conference championship could effectively be decided at the midway point rather than the final weeks. George Fox and Linfield, an old rivalry that is taking on new meaning, is among the games on center stage this weekend in Division III college football.
 
Whichever team controls the running game and makes the fewest mistakes should come out on top. With so much at stake in a rivalry matchup such as this one, just about anything could happen.
 
THE SERIES
Linfield's series vs. George Fox dates to the first game of Linfield's football history, played in Newberg on October 31, 1896, with George Fox winning 54-0. Linfield was then known as McMinnville College and George Fox as Pacific College...Linfield leads the all-time series 10-4; the Wildcats are 6-3 against the Bruins in McMinnville and 4-1 in Newberg…Linfield has won the last nine games in the series, including last season's 50-14 win in McMinnville, 2015's 24-0 win in Newberg and 2014's 59-0 win in McMinnville. Prior to that, the teams hadn't met since 1942, a 50-0 Linfield win in Newberg; before that game, the last meeting had been in 1926, a 52-0 Linfield win in McMinnville…Linfield's widest margin of victory was 59-0 in 2014 in McMinnville, while George Fox's widest margin was 56-0 in a second meeting in 1896, in McMinnville. Linfield's widest margin in Newberg was 50-0 in 1942, while George Fox's widest margin in Newberg was that 54-0 win in the first meeting of 1896…of the 14 previous meetings, only three games have seen both teams score.
 
CLOSING IN ON THE STREAK
With a win today, Linfield can secure its 62nd 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 495-113-10 for a winning percentage of .809 … Linfield's record at home during the streak is 268-42-4 (.860), and at Maxwell Field it is 265-42-4 (.859).
 
NUMBERS GAME
2017 is Linfield's 103rd season of football, dating back to 1896. The Wildcats' all-time record is 599-264-28 (.688) and Linfield's all-time home record is 334-91-16 (.776), including a Maxwell Field record of 314-79-11 (.791) … Linfield has won four national championships (1982, 1984, 1986, 2004), finished runner-up three times (1961, 1965, 1992) and won 40 Northwest Conference titles (32 outright).
 
RECENT HISTORY
Since the start of the 2009 season, Linfield is 89-12 overall (.881), 73-4 (.948) in the regular season and 49-3 (.942) at home … the Wildcats have won eight straight Northwest Conference championships in that time (seven outright) and are 53-1 in NWC games (.981).
 
COACH JOSEPH SMITH
Joseph Smith is in his 12th season as Linfield's head coach; he has an overall record of 107-21 (.836), which is the highest winning percentage of any head coach in Wildcat football history … Smith's record includes marks of 91-13 (.875) in the regular season, 68-5 (.932) in Northwest Conference games, 16-8 (.667) in the postseason and 59-7 (.894) at home.