REDLANDS, Calif. – The Linfield football team spoiled Rah Rah Redlands Night with a 51-10 rout of the Bulldogs on Saturday night at Ted Runner Stadium.
 
The Bulldogs opened the scoring with a 25-yard field goal by Vicente Garcia with 9:22 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats scored 51 straight points before the Bulldogs' Myles Herrera ran it for a 61-yard touchdown with just under three minutes left in the game.
 
A two-yard rushing touchdown by sophomore running back Connor Morton gave the Wildcats a 7-3 lead going into the second quarter. The 'Cats scored four straight touchdowns to extend their lead to 31 points going into halftime.
 
Senior quarterback Wyatt Smith connected with freshman wide receiver Joel Valadez for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Smith followed with a rushing touchdown, a 58-yard touchdown pass to Valadez and a 24-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Devon Murray.
 
Linfield kept its foot on the gas following a 27-point second quarter.
 
Morton scored again on a 14-yard run for his second touchdown of the day. Senior kicker Andy Starkel nailed a 24-yard field goal and sophomore running back Jared DeVine took it in for a four-yard score to wrap up the Wildcats' dominating performance.
 
Smith completed 27 of 35 passes for 320 yards, three touchdowns and an interception to go with his rushing touchdown. Morton finished with 51 yards on nine carries while Valadez had 114 receiving yards to go with his two touchdowns.

The Linfield defense shut out Redlands in the second and third quarters. The Wildcats limited the Bulldogs to just 162 yards of total offense, 82 passing and 80 rushing. Senior defensive end Travis Swanson led the Linfield defense with eight tackles, four solo, with five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Swanson was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week for last week's performance against Division II Simon Fraser.
 
The Wildcats' high-scoring offense gave their special teams a break in the 41-point rout. Starkel made his only field goal attempt and kicked off nine times for an average of 61.2 yards. Senior Colton Ramos punted once for 24 yards.
 
NEXT
Linfield moves to 2-0 on the season after avenging its 27-19 loss to the Bulldogs in Southern California in 2019. The 'Cats will enjoy a bye week next week before hitting the road again to play at Puget Sound on Saturday, Oct. 2.