LINFIELD WILDCATS (6-2, 5-1 NWC) vs. PACIFIC (Ore.) BOXERS (5-4, 4-2 NWC)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Maxwell Field, McMinnville, Ore.
 
The 2018 Northwest Conference football regular season comes to a close when Linfield hosts Pacific in McMinnville Saturday at Maxwell Field. After a thrilling outcome in Tacoma last weekend, the 'Cats look to keep their playoff hopes alive against the surprising Boxers in Linfield's annual Pacific Office Automation Hall of Fame Game.
 
PLAYOFFS?
A Linfield win would keep the Wildcats in the conversion for an at-large NCAA Division III playoff berth. The full 32-team field is announced Sunday at 2:30 p.m. PST on NCAA.com.

WELCOME VETERANS AND ACTIVE SERVICE MEMBERS
As part of Veterans Day Weekend, Linfield is planning to honor all veterans and active service men and women with a special halftime tribute. All military personnel will be admitted to the game free of charge with military ID.
 
THE DETAILS
Kevin Nelson and Dave Hansen provide live audio play-by-play coverage of Linfield football on the Linfield Sports Network. Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. with the Farnham Electric Pregame Show featuring Joe Stuart and Jon Lee.
 
BOXERS OFFENSE
Similar to the Puget Sound attack, the Boxers' offensive focus is to drive the ball downfield via the pass. Among Northwest Conference teams, Pacific ranks sixth in total yards per game, averaging 316 yards per outing with 253 of those coming through the air. The Boxers average 63 yards rushing per game to rank last in the NWC in that category.
 
Boxers quarterback JT Greenough has produced a quality season. The senior from Tigard threw for 1,282 yards in 2017 but has nearly doubled that total with 2,182 this fall. His 242 passing yards per game rank fifth in the conference. Greenough, whose father, Todde, starred at quarterback at Willamette, owns the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the NWC (16-5). In his last four games, he has thrown 12 touchdowns against just two interceptions, including four TDs last week in Forest Grove against Willamette.
 
After catching just three passes for 51 yards in 2017, sophomore wide out Ty Hargis ranks second among NWC pass catchers in 2018 with 75 receptions. His 8.3 average catches per game rank eighth-best in NCAA Division III. Hargis has 738 receiving yards and five touchdowns as the Boxers' primary target. One-time All-America receiver Kobe Williams has 31 receptions and 348 yards while senior Gavin Hettinger enters Saturday's contest with 21 catches and 138 yards.
 
The Boxers offensive line has struggled at times to protect Greenough in 2018. He has been sacked at least twice in every game, including eight times at Whitworth, and seven times in the season opener at Chapman. Pacific averages 295 pounds between its five offensive linemen. The group features senior Nolan Wright at left tackle and two freshmen on the right side in Mitchell Ulrich and Roman Okonowski.
 
WILDCATS OFFENSE
Enjoying its most productive offensive day this fall, the Wildcats' sudden surge both throwing and running the ball produced 47 points last week in Tacoma.
 
Notching career bests in passing yards (449) and touchdowns (4), quarterback Wyatt Smith was named NWC Football Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week. Smith is the third-leading passer in the conference with more than 250 yards per game. He leads the NWC in efficiency rating (141.7) by any quarterback who has attempted more than 57 passes. To beat Pacific, Smith must be mobile in the pocket against one of the top defensive fronts in the nation.
 
Coming off his best day as a Wildcat, running back Chidubem Nnoli rushed for 160 yards on 25 carries and scored twice against Puget Sound. The leading rusher in the NWC is averaging 104 yards per game and has rushed for 837 yards in eight games. Nnoli's eight touchdowns are second-most in the conference. Relieving Nnoli will be Artie Johnson and Tala Teaupa.
 
With two touchdowns and more than 130 yards receiving in Tacoma, J.D. Lasswell is sixth among conference receivers in yards per game (71.6). Both he and Keegan Weiss place in the top 10 among NWC wideouts in receiving yards per contest. Max Novak, Keaton Wood and Aiden Wilder round out the Linfield receiving corps.  
 
The Wildcat offensive line features four seniors playing in their final home contest. The group includes Dakota Smith, Aaron Kokobun, Gabe Majaro and Cody Mitchell.
 
BOXERS DEFENSE
Yielding just over 330 yards per contest, Pacific enters Saturday's matchup rated fourth among conference defenses. A quality front line has recovered 16 fumbles, second best in Division III football. The Boxers allow 23 points per game.
 
Pacific's 4-3 defense uses four upperclassmen on its defensive line. Senior end Tristian Smith leads the line with 38 tackles and 19 tackles for loss, including eight sacks. He is teamed with tackles Bobby Ulrich and Tui Tuiele along with defensive end Wyatt Ma'a. Pacific averages four sacks per game to rank seventh nationally.
 
Pacific's second-leading tackler is linebacker Ryan Sinkking. The senior has 62 tackles with 4.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and four pass breakups. Joining Sinking are linebackers Garrett Willmon in the middle and Cameron Ginn on the outside.  
 
A starter in his first year in the program, freshman safety Cole Thomas leads the Boxers with 74 tackles. The NWC's fifth-leading tackler, Thomas averages 8.2 takedowns per game. Alika Sarono flanks Thomas at the other safety position while Delcan Brown and Chad Farias are listed as the starting cornerbacks.  
 
WILDCATS DEFENSE
Looking to bounce back after allowing 41 points to Puget Sound, the Wildcat defense still ranks as one of the top units in Division III football. Allowing 14.3 points per game, 277 yards of offense and nearly impossible to beat in the redzone, the Wildcats hope to bear down against the Boxers pass-heavy offense. 
 
The Wildcat defensive line picked up five sacks last week and will likely add to its 12^th best sack total in DIII football. Travis Swanson ranks fourth in the conference in sacks with 6.5 while Havili Eteaki has collected 3.5 sacks. The Wildcats are the 12^th best first down defense in the nation.
 
Second on the team in tackles, Patrick Pipitone suits up for the final time at Maxwell Field. The senior linebacker has 44 tackles with two sacks, four forced fumbles and two interceptions. He is paired with freshman Brian Pullman in the middle of the 'Cats defense.
 
Linfield's secondary intercepted Puget Sound's Murdock Rutledge twice last week. Leading the NWC in interceptions is monsterback Tyler Bergeron with five. The former United States Marine looks to make another tremendous impact on Veteran's Day weekend. Duke Mackle leads the Wildcat defense with 54 tackles. The senior is tied for a team-high with six pass breakups. Corners Anthony Guttadauro and Marquis Perrilliat are expected to start. Perrilliat is coming off of five pass breakups and an interception at Puget Sound.
 
OVERALL
Linfield must win to remain in the discussion for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Whitworth claimed at least a share of the NWC title with a win last week at Lewis & Clark and will in all likelihood claim the championship outright as the Pirates take on the Willamette Bearcats this Saturday. Winning with defense and a strong run-game for most of the season, Linfield showed that it can light up the scoreboard if it needs to. Pacific is as tough as they come in the NWC and Linfield must establish itself early. The matchup to watch is the Boxer defensive front against the Wildcats offensive line. Senior Day is paired with a special Veteran's Day celebration as well as Linfield's annual Hall of Fame ceremony.
 
THE SERIES
The series between Linfield and Pacific dates to 1897, with Linfield holding a 46-24-4 advantage. The Wildcats have won the last 10 games in the series, including a 35-7 win in Forest Grove in 2017. The Boxers' last victory was in 1988, by a score of 38-24 in Forest Grove … The first meeting between the schools was November 13, 1897, with then-McMinnville College taking a 12-4 win in Forest Grove. Pacific then went 19-3-3 in the series through the 1950 season. After the teams traded wins through the 1950s, Linfield has won 37 of the last 39 games dating back to 1960 … The teams did not play between 1990 and 2010 as Pacific dropped football after the 1991 season. Even with that gap, the series with Pacific is Linfield's third-most played opponent with 74 games prior to 2018, trailing Willamette (90 games prior to 2018) and Lewis & Clark (83 games prior to 2018) … One of the stranger scores in Linfield's football history came against Pacific, with the Wildcats winning 2-0 in 1984 in McMinnville … Linfield has a 23-9-4 record in games played in McMinnville and a 23-15 edge in games played in Forest Grove … Pacific's last win in McMinnville came in 1954 by a 20-0 score … Linfield's widest margin of victory was 67 points in 2015 in McMinnville, a 77-10 win; the Wildcats' widest margin in Forest Grove was 46 points, 46-0 in 1961. Pacific's widest margin of victory was 39 points, 39-0 in 1903 in Forest Grove. The Boxers' widest margin in McMinnville was 32 points, 32-0 in 1952.
 
SHUTOUT STATS
So far this season, Linfield has posted three shutouts; that ties for the seventh-most in a season in school history and is the most since posting three shutouts in 2007 …  The most shutouts Linfield has ever recorded is five, in 1935, 1963 and 1964. The Wildcats blanked opponents four times in 1926, 1927 and 1950 … there have been 12 Linfield teams besides this year's that posted three shutouts. For the 1904 squad, that meant an entire season of not allowing a point as then-McMinnville College beat Monmouth Normal (now Western Oregon) 11-0, beat the Portland YMCA 43-0 and tied Columbia (now University of Portland) 0-0.
 
PLAYOFF HISTORY
Linfield has made 29 national playoff appearances, including the past nine seasons in the NCAA Division III playoffs … Linfield has won four national championships: 1982, 1984, 1986 (all NAIA Division II) and 2004 (NCAA Division III). The Wildcats have played in three more national championship games: 1961, 1965 (both NAIA) and 1992 (NAIA Division II).