McMINNVILLE, Ore. – No. 7 Linfield took sole possession of first place in Northwest Conference football by beating George Fox 38-7 Saturday afternoon at Maxwell Field. The Wildcats (7-0 overall, 5-0 NWC) opened up a 28-point lead by halftime in the matchup of Yamhill County rivals who entered the game unbeaten in conference play. 
  
By intermission, Linfield held a 28-0 lead over George Fox (4-3, 4-1). At that point, the Wildcat defense had helped build up advantages of 277-13 in total offense and 20-1 in first downs. The Bruins had 0 yards net rushing at the break as Linfield had five tackles for loss, including four quarterback sacks. 
  
By game's end, the Wildcats had 14 tackles for lost yardage, including seven quarterback sacks. Linfield linebacker Blake Rybar had 4.5 tackles for lost yardage, including a sack, and defensive end Travis Swanson, the nation's leader in tackles for lost yardage, had two tackles for loss and a sack. George Fox managed 136 yards total offense – with 1 yard rushing - to Linfield's 403 yards total offense. 
  
Linfield quarterback Wyatt Smith finished 29-for-40 passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Devon Murray had eight catches for 89 yards and the two scores for the Wildcats, while Connor McNabb and Connor Morton had seven receptions each, McNabb for 50 yards and Morton for 49. Morton rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and McNabb 56 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. 
  
For George Fox, Haiden Schaan was 11-for-21 passing for 135 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. Adam Hawker had five catches for 58 yards and Elias Polanski three for 36 yards; Ethen Kassebaum led Bruin rushers with 36 yards on nine carries. 
  
Linfield took the lead on the game's opening possession, Smith's 27-yard pass to a wide-open Devon Murray on the right side capping a 75-yard, six-play drive for a 7-0 lead. That came the play after Smith found Murray over the middle for 15 yards. 
  
After forcing a Bruin three-and-out, the Wildcats took over at their own 9-yard line after Jason Santoni's 74-yard punt. Linfield marched 91 yards in 12 plays, scoring on McNabb's four-yard run on a toss right for a 14-0 lead. The Wildcats had converted a third-and-six from the 22 on Smith's scramble to the right. 
  
Linfield tacked on a third touchdown with another long drive in the second quarter, taking 10 plays to go 49 yards and Morton going up the middle for six yards and a 21-0 lead. Linfield had converted a fourth-and-three from the George Fox 42 on Smith's nine-yard pass to McNabb. 
  
On Linfield's next possession, it took seven plays to go 60 yards and Colton Smith made it 28-0 when he took the ball on a jet sweep around the right side for two yards. A big gainer for the 'Cats was Morton going up the middle for seven yards, followed by a personal foul against the Bruins that moved the ball to the 21. 
  
Linfield scored its final touchdown late in the third quarter on Wyatt Smith's three-yard pass to Murray in the middle of the end zone moving the score to 35-0. On a third-and-four from Linfield's 26, Smith hit Morton for 12 yards and a roughing the passer penalty took the ball all the way to the George Fox 47. 
  
George Fox put together its longest drive so far in the afternoon late in the third quarter, moving from its own 14 to the Linfield 29 early in the fourth quarter. Schaan's pass from there was intercepted by Tyler Sitton, who returned it 67 yards to the Bruin 15. A holding penalty stalled Linfield's drive and Andrew Starkel's 31-yard field goal put the Wildcats up 38-0 with 12:24 to play. 
  
The Bruins got on the board on their final drive of the day. They had first-and-goal at the Wildcat 3, only to be pushed back to the 16 on two running plays that lost yardage and a sack. On fourth-and-goal, Schaan got the ball to Leon Johnson III in the back of the end zone and he managed to touch the turf before crossing the end line to make it 38-7 with 2:05 to go. 
  
NEXT 
On Saturday, Linfield visits Willamette for a 1:30 p.m. game while George Fox is at Lewis & Clark. 

EXTRA POINTS 
Saturday's win was the Wildcats' 17^th straight at home and their 22^nd straight NWC home win … the victory came one day before the 125^th anniversary of Linfield's first-ever football game. That was played October 31, 1896 in Newberg, when Pacific College (now George Fox) beat McMinnville College (now Linfield) 54-0 … since then, Linfield has taken a 14-4 lead in the series, winning the last 14 games; that includes all seven games since George Fox restarted its football program in 2014 … at halftime, former Linfield head coach Ad Rutschman was saluted on the occasion of this being the week of his 90^th birthday. Rutschman served as the Wildcats' head football and baseball coach and athletic director from the late 1960s into the 1990s; he coached Linfield to national football championships in 1982, 1984 and 1986 and a national baseball title in 1971.