SALEM, Ore. – Chidubem Nnoli rushed for 197 yards and three touchdowns and Jason Farlow piled up a career-high 13 tackles, spurring No. 7 Linfield to a 55-14 romp over the Willamette Bearcats in a Northwest Conference football game Saturday at McCulloch Stadium.
 
Linfield (3-1, 2-0 NWC) established new season offensive highs for points (55), yards (584), rushing yards (331) and first downs (23), all without yielding a single turnover.
 
"We worked really hard this week to establish the running game," said Nnoli, who averaged 15.2 yards on 13 carries. "The line always does a good job and the coaches draw up a good plan. We executed today."
 
Farlow was dominating on the defensive side of the ball. He made eight solo tackles among 13 stops, forced a fumble, and returned an interception for a score. Wearing the hononary No. 35 Parker Moore jersey, the senior linebacker picked off WU quarterback Ryan Knowlton in the second quarter, returning the ball 35 yards to the end zone to put the Wildcats in command, 28-7.
 
"Willamette has good athletes and we expected them to do some good things, and they did," said Farlow. "They hit us with that same play twice and it worked, so they came back to it and caught us again. But take away that, and we contained them well, and good athletes make plays."
 
Willamette (0-4, 0-2 NWC) was limited to 246 yards, including 83 rushing. Knowlton was his team's leading ground gainer with 29 yards and threw for 120 yards and two TDs on 8-of-16 passing.
 
How it played out
Nnoli spotted Linfield a fast 7-0 start, scoring on a winding 43-yard run on the Wildcats' opening possession. Willamette answered with a touchdown of its own two minutes later when Ryan Knowlton passed 34 yards tight end Garrett Keizur to knot the game at 7.
 
Tyler Torgerson pulled in a 21-yard TD from quarterback Troy Fowler with 1:33 left in the first quarter before Nnoli made it 21-7 with his second touchdown, a 58-yard dash that saw the Southern Oregon transfer simply outrun the Willamette defense. Farlow then intervened, picking off Knowlton and taking it to the end zone for a 28-7 Linfield advantage.
 
Knowlton and Jordan Fickas hooked up on a 3-yard scoring play with 1:14 left before intermission, but the Wildcats came right back with a a 33-yard field goal by Will Warne to cap an efficient seven-play, 70-yard drive.
 
It was all Linfield after the break as the Wildcats outscored the Bearcats 24-0 the rest of the way. J.D. Lasswell caught a 20-yard pass from Fowler on Linfield's first drive of the third period and Warne added a 25-yard field goal midway through the quarter that extended Linfield's lead to 41-14. Nnoli notched his third rushing TD of the day, a 36-yarder with 4:44 left in the third, and backup QB Aiden Wilder capped a six-play scoring drive with a 1-yard run in the final minute of the quarter.

Stat check 
Fowler completed 11 of 18 for 170 yards and two scores, adding 53 yards rushing on five carries. Lasswell caught four of Fowler's passes for 92 yards and one TD. Torgerson had three catches for 35 yards. Dawson Ruhl gained 53 yards in relief of Nnoli.
 
Final words
Following the game, Wildcats coach Joseph Smith said he was pleased with his offensive unit, which, by Linfield standards, was muted in its initial two outings against Chapman and Mary Hardin-Baylor, but generated nearly 600 yards in Salem.
 
"It just takes time with that many new people together," Smith said. "It takes a little time to coalesce. I think we'll be really good in 2-3 more weeks.
 
"Chidubem had a good day. He has a chance to be exceptionally effective for us. He had a good day today and he's capable of that most every game."
 
Defensively, the Wildcats allowed the Bearcats to successfully convert just 3 of 16 third-down plays. Tackle Zach Grate totaled six tackles, reserve end Ray Thomas had four tackles, including two tackles for loss, and Wade Ransom returned an interception 54 yards to set up a score.
 
Linfield's defense, Smith said, "played tremendous. They're solid, they're well-coached, they play hard, they're fast. They're a fun defense to watch."
 
'Cat Scratch
Linfield defeated the Bearcats for the 14th time in 17 previous meetings. . . the Wildcats' 41-point triumph came within one point of equaling the series' widest margin of victory in Salem, set in 2015 (49-7) and 2005 (63-21). . . Linfield converted 6 of 12 third-down plays and was 4-for-5 in the red zone. . . Warne was spotless, hitting all seven of his extra-point attempts and both field goal tries. . . Nnoli came three yards shy of becoming just the sixth running back in Linfield history to surpass 200 yards rushing in a single game.
 
Next
Linfield heads to Lewis & Clark to battle the resurgent Pioneers (2-2, 1-1 NWC) Saturday at 1 p.m.