McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield got off to a slow start, but the Wildcats turned on the jets to drop Lewis & Clark 51-17 and claim sole possession of the Northwest Conference football championship for the 35th time in program history Saturday afternoon at Maxwell Field.
With the victory, the Wildcats secured their 43rd NWC title overall, having shared the title in eight other seasons. The win also completes a perfect 9-0 regular season, including a 7-0 record in NWC play.
Senior quarterback
Wyatt Smith opened the scoring with a five-yard touchdown pass to junior
Devon Murray. Lewis & Clark responded with a touchdown on its first offensive play of the game as Cruz Montana connected with Jonathan Newsome for 75 yards.
Smith was intercepted by Lewis & Clark's Tanner Ono after the pass was tipped, but the Wildcats held the Pioneers to a field goal. The 10-7 score was the only lead of the game for the Pioneers.
Smith was picked off again in Lewis & Clark territory on Linfield's next possession, this time by the Pioneers' Anakin Mares. Linfield senior defensive end
Travis Swanson sacked Montana on third down to force a three and out. An illegal batting penalty on Lewis & Clark following a bad snap on the punt resulted in a safety to cut the Wildcats' deficit to one point heading into the second quarter.
Linfield came out firing in the second quarter with three touchdowns.
Wyatt Smith connected with his brother,
Colton Smith, for 19 yards to give the 'Cats a 16-10 lead. They stepped on the gas pedal from that point on and never looked back.
Wyatt Smith kept the ball on the following possession and broke free for a 35-yard touchdown. A 45-yard pass from Smith to Smith set up a 20-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back
Connor McNabb to extend the Linfield lead to 20 points going into halftime.
McNabb lit up the scoreboard again early in the third quarter, plowing through the Pioneer defense for 17 yards for his second touchdown of the afternoon. The Wildcats got another score on a four-yard pitch to senior wide receiver
Payton Person.
The real fun started when senior offensive guard
Julien Sears lined up in the backfield with Linfield on the Lewis & Clark two-yard line. He was stopped short of the goal line twice but broke through on a third attempt for his first career touchdown to make it 51-10 in favor of the 'Cats.
The Pioneers got back on the board in the fourth quarter as Montana completed a pass to Reid Fong for a 27-yard touchdown.
The Smith brothers went off for the Wildcats. Wyatt completed 26 of 38 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns to go with the two interceptions and his rushing touchdown. Colton caught 10 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown while Murray had six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Three Linfield running backs rushed for 70 or more yards. McNabb led the way with 86 yards on 10 carries to go with his two touchdowns. He also caught a pass for 15 yards. Junior
Connor Morton had 76 yards while sophomore
Aaron Martinez finished with 70.
The Wildcat defense limited the Pioneers to 251 yards of total offense, including just 15 yards on the ground. The Pioneers punted six times and converted on just four of 14 third downs.
Junior monsterback
Ben Baxter, senior cornerback
Jon Sedy and sophomore rover
Caiden Biege-Wetherbee led the 'Cats with five tackles each. Sedy and Biege-Wetherbee also had a tackle for loss. The 'Cats had six sacks, led by two by senior defensive end
Vinny Niosi. Niosi also had a forced fumble.
The win clinched Linfield's first perfect regular season record since 2015, the year the Wildcats went all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs. It also secured
Joseph Smith's 11th NWC title as head coach in the past 12 seasons.
NEXT
The NCAA Division III football Selection Show is Sunday, Nov. 14, at 2:30 p.m. (Pacific) on NCAA.com. A link to the selection show can be found above.
