Winning a Northwest Conference football championship begins with the men in the trenches, and Linfield is well equipped to make another run at a title as three Wildcat linemen were selected to the 2022 D3football.com Preseason All-America Team.
 
Offensive guard Julien Sears was picked as a Preseason First Team All-American. Also returning to the Linfield offensive line this season is center Matt Metcalf, a third-team selection. On the opposite side of the ball is defensive end Travis Swanson, who earned a second-team nod on the Preseason All-America Team.
 
Sears and Metcalf anchored the O-line in 2021. They helped the 'Cats finish the season ranked sixth in Division III with 47.83 points per game while also ranking 12^th with 485.8 yards of total offense per game. The team's 330 passing yards per game ranked eighth in the country.
 
A dynamic duo for the Linfield offense, Sears and Metcalf were both named First Team All-NWC selections in 2021. Sears landed on the D3football.com All-America second team while Metcalf reeled in Second Team All-Region 6 honors.
 
The 16^th player in program history to be named the NWC Defensive Player of the Year, Swanson went on to garner Third Team All-America status from D3football.com. He racked up 53 tackles, 31 solo, to go with 19.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and an interception.
 
Linfield enters the season ranked No. 7 in the D3football.com preseason poll. The 'Cats' (11-1, 7-0 NWC) 2021 season ended in a loss to eventual national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor in the NCAA quarterfinals.
 
The 2022 season opens on Sept. 3 in Montgomery, Alabama, against the Huntingdon College Hawks of the USA South Athletic Conference. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (Central). The first home game for the 'Cats, which also marks Homecoming on the Linfield campus, is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sept. 17 against the SCIAC's Redlands Bulldogs. Northwest Conference play begins on Oct. 1 when the 'Cats welcome Puget Sound to Maxwell Field.