McMINNVILLE, Ore. –  Four Willy Warne field goals helped No. 7 Linfield take control of the Northwest Conference football race with a 12-6 win over No. 19 George Fox on Saturday afternoon at Maxwell Field. The Wildcats took the victory in a matchup of teams that entered the game unbeaten in conference play.
 
With the win, Linfield (5-1, 4-0 NWC) clinched its 62nd consecutive winning season, the record for college football at any level. It was also the 600th all-time victory for the Wildcats, who are now 600-264-28 since first fielding a team in 1896.
 
On a wet, windy afternoon, the game was reminiscent of the era when Linfield started its streak in 1956. The defenses dominated as the Wildcats finished with 151 yards and the Bruins with 144; the contest was without a touchdown until George Fox (5-2, 3-1) scored on the game's final play.
 
By then, Warne had booted a pair of field goals in both the second and fourth quarters to put Linfield ahead. His four field goals were one short of the Wildcats' single-game record. Warne's kicks of 32, 20 43 and 35 yards all came at the north end of the field with the wind at his back.
 
George Fox had two field goal chances, but Jason Santoni missed wide right on a 42-yarder with the wind in the first quarter and had a 38-yarder into the wind deflected by Linfield's Chris Cassi in the second quarter.
 
How dominant were the defenses?
 
Linfield's defense created three turnovers while the Wildcats lost the ball just once. George Fox came up with seven quarterback sacks and numerous other tackles for lost yardage. Linfield was 4-for-18 on third-down conversions, GFU 2-for-13.
 
In the battle for field position, the Wildcats punted nine times and the Bruins eight. Each team had a mishap in the punting game, as a low snap led to Linfield's Colton Ramos fumbling and on the next series GFU's Santoni had his kick blocked by Linfield's Duke Mackle.
 
Linfield running back Chidubem Nnoli ran for 120 yards on 27 carries, his fourth consecutive game of at least 100 yards. He carried five times for 26 yards on the Wildcats' 15-play, 53-yard drive that set up Warne's third field goal, which gave the 'Cats a two-score lead on the second play of the final period.
 
Wildcats quarterback Aiden Wilder ran for 47 yards and completed 5 of 9 passes for 25 yards. Wilder made his second straight start after taking over for an ill Troy Fowler the previous week at Lewis & Clark. Nnoli was also Linfield's leading receiver with two catches for 21 yards.
 
GFU quarterback Grant Schroeder led the Bruins with 41 yards on 16 carries, and connected with Kenny May on a 32-yard scoring pass as time expired. Schroeder finished with 69 yards passing on an 8-for-23 performance with one interception.
 
Mackle's block of Santoni's punt midway through the second quarter led to the game's first score, giving Linfield the ball at the GFU 18-yard line. Three plays put the ball at the Bruin 10 and the Wildcats' lined up to go for it on fourth-and-2, but a penalty for a substitution infraction pushed the ball back five yards and Linfield settled for Warne's 32-yard boot and a 3-0 lead with 5:58 left before halftime.
 
Another turnover set up Linfield's second score, as Mackle knocked the ball loose from Schroeder and the Wildcats' Andrew Schweiterman recovered at the Bruin 11. The 'Cats reached the 3 before Warne hit his 20-yarder to make it 6-0 with 33 seconds remaining in the half.
 
At halftime, the Bruins held the lead in total offense, 42-27 and had three first downs to the Wildcats' two.
 
Linfield's offense began moving in the middle of the third quarter while the defense held George Fox to just one first down in its first five possessions of the second half.
 
The game-clinching 53-yard drive began at the Linfield 11 with 6:30 left in the third quarter. A key play came early in the drive when, on a third-and-6 from the 15, Wilder ran right and dove at the sideline to just reach the first down marker.
 
Nnoli then carried four straight times to reach the 'Cat 46, and Wilder and running back Blake Burnett shared carries from there. The Wildcats extended the drive just long enough to get into the final quarter and give Warne the wind at his back for the 42-yarder, which just snuck over the crossbar to make it 9-0.
 
Given the way the game had gone, it looked as though nine points would be enough to win, but Linfield added Warne's final field goal with 3:45 to play after starting a possession at the GFU 40 after a short punt. Nnoli had kept the drive alive with a 23-yard run on third-and-10 from that spot.
 
George Fox's scoring drive began at its own 20 with 1:37 left. On the game's final play, Schroeder scrambled right and found May on the right side of the end zone; he threaded the ball through two defenders and May kept his feet inbounds while making the catch. With the game decided, the conversion was not attempted.
 
'Cat Scratch
During its 62-year streak of winning seasons, Linfield's record is 496-113-10, including a home mark of 269-42-4 and a Maxwell Field record of 266-42-4 … Saturday was Linfield's 600^th all-time win; the first was a 12-0 win over Monmouth Normal (now Western Oregon) on November 6, 1897 in Monmouth … Ramos had a range of 66 yards between his shortest and longest punts of the day, with a minus-3 yard punt into the wind in the first quarter and a 63-yarder with the wind in the second quarter … Linfield now leads the all-time series with George Fox 11-4 and has won the last 11 meetings. Linfield's first-ever game was against George Fox on October 31, 1896 when Linfield was known as McMinnville College and George Fox was Pacific College … until the game's final play, it appeared Saturday would mark the 12^th time in the 15 games of the series that one team or the other had been shutout. As is, 11 of the 15 games have been a shutout one way or the other.