REDLANDS, Calif. –
Blake Eaton passed for 192 yards and one touchdown,
Gavin Dalziel booted a career-long 51-yard field goal just before halftime, and the Linfield defense came through with four sacks and two interceptions in a 17-10 victory over Redlands Saturday night at Ted Runner Stadium.
Eighth-ranked Linfield (2-0) ran its regular-season winning streak to 27 games, defeating Redlands (1-1) for the 12th time in 13 tries.
Eaton completed 22 of 30 throws without an interception.
Colton Smith caught eight passes for 79 yards and
Devon Murray added seven grabs for 55 yards, including a 1-yard score from Eaton that put the Wildcats up by two touchdowns on the next-to-last play of the third quarter.
Blaze Holani and
Alex Frazier-Dow each recorded six tackles, including a sack to spearhead a defensive unit that held Redlands to just 240 total yards, including 75 rushing.
Neither team could seem to find its offensive rhythm in the first half. The Wildcats took the early lead when
Aaron Martinez's 1-yard run capped a 10-play drive that spanned nearly seven minutes.
Redlands got on the scoreboard late in the second quarter when Vicente Garcia booted a 23-yard field goal to cut the visitors' lead to 7-3 with 1:15 remaining before intermission.
Linfield got the ball with 41 seconds left in the half. Two Eaton pass completions and a pair of short runs spotted the ball at the Bulldogs' 37-yard line. With two seconds on the clock,
Gavin Dalziel booted a career-long 51-yard field goal, giving the Wildcats some momentum heading into the halftime locker room.
The Wildcats did their best to pull away in the second half. On a third-and-goal play from the Redlands 1,
Devon Murray gathered an Eaton pass in the right corner of the endzone with four seconds left in the third quarter. Dalziel's extra point put Linfield in front 17-3.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair with neither team putting up points. That is until Redlands quarterback Tyler Tremain wriggled free for an 18-yard rushing TD with 1:16 to play, capping an 18-play, 90-yard march. The onside kick attempt failed to travel the required 10 yards, and the Wildcats were able to run out the clock from there.
'CAT SCRATCH
Saturday's attendance was 1,950. . . Linfield went 7-for-10 on third-down attempts in the first half but was 0-for-5 in the second half . . . Wildcats punter
Thomas Tabor averaged 40.0 yards on five attempts, including two punts that sailed over 50 yards. . . the 'Cats forced two turnovers, interceptions by
Ben Baxter and
Blake Rybar, but did not yield a turnover to the Bulldogs.
AHEAD
After two long road trips, Linfield enjoys a weekend off before hosting Willamette on Saturday, Sept. 30. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Maxwell Field.
