MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In a battle of reigning conference champions, the Linfield Wildcats prevailed in a 41-34 shootout with the Huntingdon Hawks Saturday night at Charles Lee Field.
Sophomore quarterback
Blake Eaton turned heads during summer camp, earning a starting nod to fill a role that was vacated by
Wyatt Smith, a recent Linfield graduate and McMinnville native.
Eaton completed 24 of 42 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. He added two rushing touchdowns in his first collegiate start. The Central Point, Oregon, native opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run to cap off a 75-yard Linfield drive.
Huntingdon answered with back-to-back scores to take a 13-7 lead. Senior quarterback Landon Cotney ran it in for four yards to tie the game. He struck again less than three minutes later with a 60-yard touchdown pass to Tyler England, but the extra point attempt was unsuccessful.
Eaton threw a pair of touchdown passes to
Joel Valadez and
Colton Smith to put the 'Cats back on top with 2:35 remaining in the first quarter, but the Hawks evened the score 19 seconds later when Cotney connected with Conner Bradford for an 82-yard touchdown.
Linfield started to gain some separation in the second quarter when Eaton took it 14 yards to the end zone for his second rushing touchdown of the evening. He found Smith again for a 48-yard score to put the 'Cats up 34-20, but Cotney threw a second touchdown pass to England with just 21 seconds left before halftime to cut the Linfield lead back to seven.
Both defenses stepped up in the second half, allowing just one touchdown apiece. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
Huntingdon senior linebacker Casey Peppers racked up a game-high 11 tackles, including three tackles for loss. Tucker Spence contributed nine tackles on the night while Tyrell Davis and Cameron Reynolds each came up with interceptions.
Linfield also got two interceptions from monsterback
Ben Baxter and cornerback
Des Phillips.
Blake Rybar led the linebacker corps with a team-high eight tackles, six solo, while defensive end
Travis Swanson, a D3football.com Third Team All-American in 2021, had five tackles and two sacks.
The 'Cats pulled away with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Eaton to
Devon Murray at the 4:29 mark in the third quarter. The home team answered once again with a Cotney 39-yard connection to Bradford to put the Hawks within striking distance. Cotney completed 20 passes for 349 yards while matching Eaton with four touchdown passes.
Huntingdon marched down to the Linfield 39-yard line in the final minutes of the contest. After two incomplete passes, the Hawks were forced to go for it on fourth-and-1. Cotney broke free for an eight-yard run but was stopped inches short of a first down to secure a victory for the 'Cats.
NEXT
Linfield (1-0) will enjoy a bye week before gearing up for Redlands on Sept. 17, which marks Homecoming for the 'Cats. Huntingdon (0-1) will hit the road on Sept. 10 for a matchup at Birmingham Southern.
