With the calendar preparing to turn to November, the unbeaten Linfield Wildcats will host the Pacific Boxers at Maxwell Field this Saturday, looking to continue their dominance of the Northwest Conference as the postseason begins to draw near.
 
TICKETS
Tickets may be purchased in advance online by 3:00 on Friday or at the gate on gameday starting two hours before kickoff.
 
Covered reserved grandstand tickets are $20 dollars apiece, while general admission tickets are $10 for adults, and $5 for seniors 65 and over, children between ages 6-13, and non-Linfield students with their IDs. Children under six and Linfield students with their university ID may attend for free.
 
COVERAGE
The Linfield Sports Network will provide live-streaming video coverage for every home game. Coverage begins with the Farnham Electric Pregame Show at 12:30.
 
Linfield alum Joe Stuart calls the play-by-play in his third year in the booth covering Wildcat football, while Linfield Athletics hall of famer and former All-American running back Gary McGarvie adds color-commentary and analysis.
 
Linfield football games can also be heard over KLYC 1260 AM in the McMinnville area.
 
THE SEASON SO FAR
The Wildcats are ranked No. 9 in the D3Football.com Top 25 and No. 4 in the AFCA D-III Coaches Poll after improving their record to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play with their 55-6 win last week at Puget Sound. Linfield has averaged a margin of victory of 44.0 points since Northwest Conference play began. Linfield is under the direction of 18^th year head coach Joseph Smith.
 
The Boxers are 1-5 overall this season, 1-3 in conference and have lost three straight games. Their lone win came in their NWC opener against Puget Sound, winning 28-14. Pacific is coming off a 42-20 loss in Spokane at the hands of the Whitworth Pirates. The program is led by third year head coach Ian Falconer.
 
THE LINFIELD OFFENSE
The Wildcats continue to set the pace in the NWC in terms of total offense, leading all teams with 448.5 yards a game. Linfield leads the league in rushing with 177.8 yards per game and is fourth in passing with 270.7 yards per game.
 
The 'Cats are second in the conference in scoring with 44.7 per game which is good enough for 14^th in the nation. They have hung at least 40 points on every NWC opponent they've faced so far this season.
 
Junior quarterback Blake Eaton leads the NWC with 17 touchdowns this year while having just thrown his first interception of the season at Puget Sound.
 
He also leads the league and is eighth nationally with a 72.2 percent completion rate and is second in the league in passing with 230.0 yards per game. Eaton's five passing touchdowns against the Loggers tied his season high; he has also run for three this season.
 
Eaton's top targets on the season have been fifth-year receivers Colton Smith and Devon Murray.
 
Smith is tied for fourth in the conference with 33 catches this season, which he's turned in to 277 yards and three touchdowns. Murray is seventh in the NWC in yards and receptions, with 426 on 31, and is third in touchdowns with eight.
 
Smith is currently tied for second all-time for the most receiving touchdowns in program history with 32 while Murray is tied for third with 31.
 
In the run game fifth-year senior Connor McNabb has racked up 448 yards this season, averaging 74.7 yards per game, third in the conference.
 
His 6.4 yards per attempt is sixth in the conference but top 20 nationally among qualified players. McNabb has also added 14 catches for 122 yards as a receiver and has scored four rushing touchdowns, tied for third in the NWC.
 
Senior Aaron Martinez has also scored four rushing touchdowns, while contributing 149 yards on 32 attempts. Fellow senior Tyler Larson has added 221 yards and touchdown on 30 attempts; his 7.4 yards per carry are second in the NWC.
 
THE PACIFIC OFFENSE
The Boxers are sixth in the NWC in total offense at 360.0 yards a game and just eighth in scoring offense at 19.8 points per game.
 
Pacific's been forced to rely on the run, averaging 158.0 yards rushing, second in the league, but just 202.0 passing yards a game, ahead of only Willamette on the conference leaderboard.
 
Sophomore running back Brody Bantolina is the highlight of the Pacific offense, leading the NWC in rushing with 104.8 yards per game and is seventh in yards per attempt at 6.0. His five rushing touchdowns are second in the league and he's added six catches for 52 yards on the ground.
 
Senior quarterback Ryan Helt, in his second year as the Pacific starter, is sixth in the league in both passing and completion percentage, averaging just 173.8 yards per game on a rate of 60.3 percent. He's thrown for five touchdowns and two interceptions.
 
Helt's top target has been senior wide receiver Isaiah Pitre, leading the team with 23 catches. Pitre's produced 326 yards and four touchdowns, good enough for eighth in the NWC.
 
Junior Kai Bookland is second on the team with 20 receptions for 257 yards while senior Tyler Vargas has added 18 catches for 215 yards and a touchdown.
 
 
THE LINFIELD DEFENSE
The Wildcats have been dominant on defense, leading the NWC and sitting 15^th in D-III in both total defense and scoring defense, giving up just 233.2 yards and 12.0 points per game.
 
Senior linebacker Blake Rybar is on the hunt for a second consecutive NWC Defensive Player of the Year award, leading the 'Cats with 35 tackles and 21 solo, as well as with six tackles for loss, tied for sixth in the NWC. He's also recorded a sack in three straight games and has three quarterback hurries and three pass breakups.
 
Fellow senior linebacker Caiden Biege-Wetherbee has totaled 19 tackles with an interception, while sophomore Blaze Holani has racked up 25 with three for loss and five hurries off the bench.
 
Sophomore Johnny Miller has held down the starting rover position to a tune of 25 tackles this year, with 1.5 tackles for loss. He's also forced two turnovers this season, with an interception and a forced fumble to his name.
 
Up front senior tackles Nick Severson and Alex Frazier-Dow have totaled 22 and 19 tackles apiece. Frazier-Dow is tied with Rybar for the team lead in tackles for loss and has added two sacks.
 
Senior defensive end Caleb Sell leads the team with 4.5 sacks, third in the NWC, while sophomore end Grady Kentch follows closely behind with 4.0. Kentch has 5.5 tackles for loss overall and leads the team with six quarterback hurries.
 
In the secondary fifth-years Ben Baxter and Jett Searle have held the starting safety titles since losing Colby Kalaukoa to injury, with Baxter at safety and Searle as the rover.
 
Searle's totaled 17 tackles with a fumble recovery while Baxter's added 16 tackles with two pass breakups.
 
Fifth-year Justin Pfau and junior Chance Sparks continue to shut down opposing wide receivers at the corners. Pfau's recorded 12 tackles with three pass breakups and pulled in his first interception of the year at Puget Sound, while Sparks has registered 11 tackles with four breakups and an interception.
 
THE PACIFIC DEFENSE
The Boxers are middle of the pack on defense, sitting fifth in the NWC in both scoring and total defense at 27.0 points and 414.0 yards allowed per game.
 
Junior linebacker Hunter Brown leads Pacific with 45 tackles this season, seventh in the NWC. His six tackles for loss also lead the team and are tied for fifth in the league, with two being sacks.
 
Fellow junior Kamana'o Gilliand joins Brown at starting linebacker and is second on the team with 38 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, in addition to an interception.
 
Up front, graduate senior Loudyn Reese has posted four tackles for loss and leads the team three sacks. He's also forced and recovered a fumble. Senior lineman has added 4.5 tackles for loss with 2.5 sacks.
 
Graduate senior Robert Wood leads the back end of the Boxer defense with 36 tackles with four for loss at the safety position. Well fellow safety Zion Booker, a junior, has added 31 tackles with two sacks, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.
 
Juniors Jesse Stroede and Koa Atkinson-Sioloa are the starting cornerbacks for the Boxers. Stroede has posted 15 tackles and leads the team with two interceptions to go with three pass breakups. Atkisnon-Sioloa has added 14 tackles with 1.5 for loss and two breakups.
 
THE SERIES
The series between Linfield and Pacific dates to 1897, with Linfield holding a 50-24-4 advantage. The Wildcats have won the last 14 games in the series, including a 42-21 win in Forest Grove in 2022; the last meeting in McMinnville was the Wildcats' 52-23 win in 2021 … The Boxers' last victory was in 1988, by a score of 38-24 in Forest Grove …  The first meeting between the schools was November 13, 1897, with then-McMinnville College taking a 12-4 win in Forest Grove. Pacific then went 19-3-3 in the series through the 1950 season. After the teams traded wins through the 1950s, Linfield has won 40 of the last 42 games dating back to 1960 … The teams did not play between 1990 and 2010 as Pacific dropped football after the 1991 season. Even with that gap, the series with Pacific is Linfield's third-most played with 78 games prior to 2023, trailing Willamette (95 games through 2023) and Lewis & Clark (88 games through 2023) … One of the stranger scores in Linfield's football history came against Pacific, with the Wildcats winning 2-0 in 1984 in McMinnville … Linfield has a 25-9-4 record in games played in McMinnville and a 25-15 edge in games played in Forest Grove … Pacific's last win in McMinnville came in 1954 by a 20-0 score … Linfield's widest margin of victory was 67 points in 2015 in McMinnville, a 77-10 win; the Wildcats' widest margin in Forest Grove was 46 points, 46-0 in 1961. Pacific's widest margin of victory was 39 points, 39-0 in 1903 in Forest Grove. The Boxers' widest margin in McMinnville was 32 points, 32-0 in 1952 …