McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield quarterback
Blake Eaton threw five first-half touchdowns and the 14th-ranked Wildcats built a 48-point first-half lead on the way to a 65-3 NCAA Division III second-round playoff romp over shell-shocked Texas Lutheran Saturday at Maxwell Field.
The Northwest Conference champion Wildcats (10-1) advance to play Mary Hardin-Baylor (7-3), which knocked off American Southwest Conference Champion Hardin-Simmons 14-13 Saturday in Abeline, Texas. The site of the game will be finalized Sunday by the NCAA.
Texas Lutheran (9-2), champion of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, finished the day with 174 total yards.
Playing just the first half, Eaton completed 18 of 22 passes for 291 yards and no interceptions.
Connor Wolfe (111 receiving yards) and
Maclain Stoneking (94 receiving yards) each caught two touchdown passes from Eaton.
Jacob Slifka and
Jackson Pfeifer also pulled in TD passes from
Luke McNabb, who regularly alternates with Eaton behind center.
After TLU went three-and-out to begin the game, the Wildcats struck paydirt on their very first offensive play. Eaton passed 82 yards to a wide-open
Connor Wolfe, who outsprinted a Bulldogs defender for the touchdown. It was the longest play from scrimmage of the season for the Linfield offense and set the tone for things to come.
The next Bulldogs series ended in disaster. A fumble on the first play was recovered by
Colby Kalaukoa at the TLU 31-yard line. Two plays later, Eaton and Wolfe hooked up again for a scoring play to make it 14-0 just four minutes into the contest.
Minutes later, Eaton passed for another long touchdown, this one a 47-yard bomb to
Maclain Stoneking with 7:02 left on the first-quarter clock.
The Bulldogs got their only points on a 33-yard field goal by Joaquin Rodriguez on the ensuring possession to cap an 11-play, 54-yard drive.
Linfield's passing clinic continued after that as Eaton found found a streaking Stoneking in the end zone for a 29-yard strike, pushing the Wildcats' advantage to 28-3.
TLU still could not find any traction offensively. The first play of the subsequent drive also ended badly.
Chance Sparks intercepted Bulldogs quarterback Caden Bosanko and returned the ball 36 yards for a score.
A mishandled snap on a punt in the end zone cost TLU two more points as the Wildcats picked up a safety with 5:23 left in the second quarter.
Fueled by Eaton's five TD passes, Linfield outgained TLU 346-88 in the first half.
Linfield held Texas Lutheran scoreless after halftime while adding 14 more points of its own. Backup tailback
Matthew Spurbeck scored on a 2-yard run at the 7-minute mark of third quarter and third-string quarterback
Deacon Edgar pushed the Linfield advantage to 64-3 with a 1-yard dive in the opening minute fo the fourth quarter. The extra point by
Gavin Dalziel made it 65-3.
Bosanko was limited to 76 yards passing, completing 14 of 24 attempts. He led TLU in rushing with a net 31 yards on the ground. No Bulldog receiver caught more than two passes.
Linfield rolled up 516 total yards, including 389 through the air, attempted just one punt in the game, that coming late in the fourth quarter.
TLU linebacker Grayson Kowalski was credited with a game-high nine tackles and registered his team's lone quarterback sack.
Defensively for the Wildcats, cornerback
Kenyon Johnson, linebackers
Johnny Miller and
Blaze Holani, and end
Caleb Sell all finished with five tackles. Miller and
Connor Stevens each recorded two tackles for loss.
The loss avenged Linfield's only other head-to-head meeting versus Texas Lutheran, a 54-8 beatdown in the 1974 NAIA playoffs.
