McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield scored on the game's first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for the No. 7 Wildcats big first half on their way to a 42-7 win over No. 17 Whitworth in Northwest Conference football Saturday afternoon at Maxwell Field.
 
Quarterback Wyatt Smith passed for 308 yards and rushed for 66 more for Linfield (4-0, 2-0  NWC). The senior All-American passed for four scores and ran for another. Smith completed 24 of 35 throws without an interception, becoming the third quarterback in Linfield history to pass for at least 8,000 yards in his career, joining Brett Elliott (2004-05) and Sam Riddle (2013-2016).
 
Linfield had 508 yards total offense, with Connor McNabb rushing for 86 yards and a touchdown and catching six passes for 77 yards and a score. Devon Murray had five catches for 95 yards, Connor Morton four catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. Colton Smith nabbed three catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Wildcat defense limited Whitworth (4-1, 1-1 NWC) to 246 total yards, with 69 of those coming on the Pirates' final drive that resulted in their only score. Whitworth finished with 15 net yards rushing.
 
Whitworth quarterback Jaedyn Prewitt was 13-for-21 passing for 159 yards, with Jerus To'oto'o catching seven for 77 yards and Jarv Natividad four for 64 yards.
 
The Wildcats rolled to a 35-0 halftime lead. By then, Linfield had outgained Whitworth 343-79 in total offense, Smith had completed 16 of 23 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns while running for another and McNabb had rushed for 82 yards and a score.
 
McNabb got the Wildcats started in a hurry, taking the ball up the middle and bouncing to the right side to go 64 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead on the first play after the opening kickoff.
 
After stopping Whitworth's first possession after one first down, Linfield went 71 yards in six plays with Morton taking a shovel pass from Smith and going 15 yards for the touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 9:25 left in the opening quarter. The Wildcats had converted a third-and-10 from their own 29 on a 16-yard pass from Smith to Joel Valadez.
 
Linfield opened the second quarter with a 49-yard, 10-play drive capped when Smith rolled right, then threw back to the middle of the end zone where Sam Paris caught a three-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0 with 10:41 remaining in the half. Linfield kept the drive alive when McNabb converted a fourth-and-2 from the Whitworth 41 by diving to the first-down marker.
 
Linfield's next possession resulted in 55-yard, three-play strike, Wyatt Smith finding Colton Smith in the middle of the end zone for a 31-yard completion that put Linfield up 28-0 with 6:52 to go in the second quarter.
 
The Wildcats' final score of the half came with just over a minute left in the half. On a fourth-and-8 from the Pirate 48, Smith was forced to scramble to the right; he found open field and outran a Whitworth defensive back to the corner of the end zone to make it 35-0.
 
Linfield's final score came late in the third quarter on another quick drive, a four-play, 64-yard march culminating in Smith's 52-yard pass to McNabb deep down the left side. That put the Wildcats up 42-0 in the matchup between the two nationally ranked teams expected to contend for the Northwest Conference crown.
 
Whitworth threatened midway through the fourth quarter, reaching the Wildcat nine before Nate RaPue's 26-yard field goal try went wide left. The Pirates got on the board with 3:30 remaining in the game on Prewitt's two-yard run, finishing off a 69-yard, nine-play drive.
 
NEXT
Linfield is back at home for a second straight weekend, hosting the Pacific Boxers Saturday at 1:30 p.m.