The Linfield football team wraps up a formidable non-conference schedule at Memorial Stadium this Saturday by hosting the Redlands Bulldogs of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Saturday's game will mark the sixth consecutive season the Wildcats and Bulldogs have met, with Linfield taking the last four matchups.
Both sides are looking for bounce back performances. Linfield, currently No. 23 in the D3Football.com Top 25 and No. 21 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, returns home after dropping a ranked matchup on the road to No. 14/13 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in overtime.
Redlands, idle last week, opened their season on Sept. 8 with a 17-3 loss to George Fox. The Bulldogs were picked to finished tied for first in the SCIAC's "Sun Division" and third overall with Pomona-Pitzer in the conference's preseason poll.
TICKETS
Single game tickets are available online or can be purchased at the Memorial Stadium box office on game days beginning two hours before kickoff.
Tickets for covered, reserved seating in the grandstand are $25 apiece while general admission tickets are $15 with discounts available for seniors, students and children. Linfield students with their university ID and children under the age of six can attend for free.
LIVE COVERAGE
All Linfield home games feature full video webcast coverage produced by the Linfield Sports Network, which can be found live on GoLinfieldWildcats.com.
Linfield alum Joe Stuart is in his fourth season as Linfield football's play-by-play announcer. He is joined by former All-American running back and Linfield Athletics Hall of Famer Gary McGarvie for color commentary and analysis.
In addition, Linfield Athletics provides live stats for every home game, which also can be found at GoLinfieldWildcats.com.
THE LINFIELD WILDCATS
The Wildcats now stand at 1-1 after falling at UW-Oshkosh following their week one win against Denison. Linfield's loss to the Titans was the program's first in the regular season to a non-Northwest Conference opponent since losing at Redlands in 2019.
Linfield's totaled 664 yards of offense through two games and registered 338 last week. So far, the 'Cats have averaged 275.0 passing yards, 57.0 rushing yards and 26.0 points per game.
The Linfield coaching staff continued to use two quarterbacks last week in senior
Blake Eaton and junior
Luke McNabb. Eaton has completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 336 yards, a touchdown and an interception while McNabb's thrown for 214 yards and two touchdowns on a 73.08 completion percentage and has added 36 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Fifth-year senior
Connor Wolfe has led the receivers through two games, moving his season total to 191 yards and three touchdowns on 12 receptions after totaling 69 yards and a score on a team-high five catches last week.
Senior
Maclain Stoneking caught four passes for a career-best 101 yards against the Titans. Fifth-year
Jacob Slifka is second on the team with nine receptions.
At tailback, sophomore
Jackson Pfeifer has led the way after senior
Aaron Martinez was injured on his first carry of the season against Denison. Martinez may play against Redlands, but in his absence, Pfeifer has turned 19 rushing attempts into 61 yards with another 61 yards on eight receptions in the pass game.
On defense Linfield has given up 610 total yards to start the year and 17.5 points per contest after allowing just seven against Denison but 28 to UW-Oshkosh. The 'Cats have also forced four turnovers, have allowed just four trips to the red zone and a 26.6 percent conversion rate on third down.
All-American fifth-year senior linebacker
Blake Rybar leads the team with 18 tackles through two games after posting a career high 12 last game. He added 1.5 tackles for loss and his first sack against the Titans.
Fellow linebacker
Blaze Holani, a junior, is second on the team in tackles but sustained an injury towards the end of last week's game and may not play against the Bulldogs. In his stead, senior
Wyatt Zellner and junior
Brock Guyette may see additional reps.
At rover fifth-year senior
Caiden Biege-Wetherbee also ended up with an injury against UW-Oshkosh but should return this week. Junior
Johnny Miller played well with Beige-Wetherbee out, recording six tackles.
Up front, fifth-year senior defensive end
Caleb Sell posted a career-high two sacks in Wisconsin and now leads the team with 3.5. Fifth-year all-region tackle
Nick Severson and senior defensive end
Connor Stevens lead the linemen with nine tackles apiece, both with at least two for loss.
Fifth-year all-conference tackle
Alex Frazier-Dow is expected to try to return from injury this week. Sophomore
Gabe Erickson started in his place against UW-Oshkosh and has recorded a sack in each of the first two games.
In the backfield, all-region senior cornerback
Chance Sparks recorded his ninth career interception in week two, and his seventh in his last six career games. His three career "pick-sixes" are tied for the most in program history.
He's joined at corner by junior
Kenyon Johnson, who had six tackles last week.
At monster back, senior
Colby Kalaukoa is third on the team with 10 tackles and has added a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Senior
Jett Searle added five tackles last week at the traditional safety position. Senior
Cutter Hillock may spell both; he also added five tackles last week.
THE REDLANDS BULLDOGS
Redlands is coming off a 5-5 season in 2023, going 4-4 in the SCIAC to finish second in the Sun Division and fourth overall. This year the Bulldogs look to fight back to the top of the league in their fourth season under Linfield alum Jim Good.
The Bulldogs claimed the SCIAC championship as recently as 2021, the first season with Good at the helm. He served as associate head coach beginning in 2012.
Their season got off to a tumultuous start against George Fox, with the game rescheduled from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon and moved from the Bulldog's Runner Stadium to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Burns Stadium due to poor air quality.
The Bulldogs mustered just 219 yards of offense against the Bruins, with 194 passing and 25 rushing. Last season Redlands executed a run-focused system that was second in the conference at 135.6 rushing yards per game.
The Bulldogs return six starters on offense, four of them along the line. The unit is led by sophomore tackles Tristan Murad and Ben Fitchett, both All-SCIAC selections as freshmen.
Three different quarterbacks could see action for Redlands. Sophomore Jayden McKey is listed as the Bulldog starter on the depth chart. He entered the game in the second half against the Bruins, throwing for 124 yards and taking three sacks in his first collegiate game.
Junior Tyler Tremain started week one for the Bulldogs, throwing for 70 yards and running for 11 more, and led Redlands's lone scoring drive.
Tremain was the starter in 2023 but was injured in the fifth game of the season, passing for 984 yards and five touchdowns and rushing for 112 yards with four touchdowns before getting hurt. Against Linfield, he posted 165 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Freshman Will Reid, a Portland product out of Franklin High School, is listed as McKey's backup, with Tremain absent from the depth chart.
The top Redlands threat in the passing attack is graduate senior Evan Aguon, a two-time all-league selection at wide receiver with a 2023 first team nod as a return specialist.
Aguon led the Bulldogs in catches last season with 30 and receiving touchdowns with four and was second on the team with 347 yards. He is joined at wide receiver by senior Cal Breen and junior transfer Julian Walker.
Senior Calel Olicia-Aramboles is listed as the starting running back but recorded just one rushing attempt against George Fox. His backup, Donovan Maxey-Parler, rushed three times for 14 yards and with four receptions for 35 yards out of the backfield.
The Bulldogs registered the SCIAC's best defense in 2023, leading the league in both scoring and total defense at just 15.7 points and 264.9 yards per game, but return just four starters on that side of the ball this season.
They're led by senior defensive end Jax Lee, a D3Football.com First Team All-Region and First Team All-SCIAC selection last year. Lee was dominant as a pass rusher and led the conference with nine sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss.
In the middle of the Bulldog defense, junior Jaeden Thorn is the only returning starter at linebacker, joined by seniors Craig Hunter and Maximus Susi.
As a junior Thorn was third on the team with five tackles for loss and second with 3.5 sacks. He and Hunter led Redlands against George Fox with six tackles apiece. Thorn added 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack while Hunter had the lone interception of the game.
In the secondary graduate senior Elijah Valles has moved from starting safety to cornerback this season and is joined by returning starter sophomore Laurence Williams.
Valles and Williams tied for the team lead in pass breakups with six last season and both had two interceptions apiece.
Three new starters take over at the safety positions for Redlands, but all seniors in Chase Hunter, Cole Smith and Matthew Lising.
THE SERIES: Linfield has an all-time record against Redlands of 12-1 in a series dating back to 1998 and the Wildcats have won the last 4 meetings in the series … The most recent meeting was last season, with Linfield winning 17-10 in Redlands; the first meeting was the Wildcats' 24-23 win in Redlands … the most recent meeting in McMinnville was in 2022 with the Wildcats winning 21-3 … Redlands' victory was in 2019, 27-19 in Redlands … Linfield is 7-0 at home in the series and 5-1 on the road … The widest margin of victory was 48 points, 48-0 in 1999 in McMinnville; the closest game was that 24-23 game in 1998. Linfield's widest margin in Redlands was 41 points, a 51-10 win in the first of two meetings in 2021 … Two of the previous games were in the NCAA Division III national playoff first-round games in McMinnville, with Linfield winning 44-10 in 2021 and 31-23 win in 2003 … Against teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Linfield has an all-time record of 32-4 …
ALL-TIME: 2024 is Linfield's 109th season of football, dating back to 1896. The Wildcats' all-time record is 649-273-28 (.698) … Linfield's all-time home record is 361-93-16 (.785), including a Maxwell Field record of 341-81-11 (.800) … Linfield's all-time NWC record is 314-112-11 (.731) in 80 seasons dating back to the conference's initial formation in 1926. In all league games, it is 367-124-11 (.742), which includes games from 1985-1995 when the NWC schools were part of the Columbia Football Association … Linfield has had unbeaten, untied regular seasons 22 times; the most recent was a 9-0 record in 2022 and the first was a 1-0 record in 1900 …
SINCE 2009: Since the start of the 2009 season, Linfield is 139-21 (.869) overall, 119-9 (.930) in the regular season, 76-5 (.938) at home and 90-3 (.968) in NWC games … In that time, Linfield has won 12 NWC titles; 11 of those have been outright titles, most recently in 2022 … During that span, Linfield is 20-12 (.625) in the postseason … Since 2009, Linfield has recorded 7 unbeaten regular seasons … In its last 100 regular season games dating back to the 2011 season, the Wildcats are 92-8 …
HEAD COACH JOSEPH SMITH: Joseph Smith is in his 18th season as Linfield's head coach; he has an overall record of 156-30 (.839), which is the highest winning percentage of any head coach in Wildcat football history … Smith's record includes marks of 125-18 (.874) in the regular season, 103-7 (.936) in Northwest Conference games, 85-9 (.904) at home and 20-12 (.625) in the postseason … During Smith's tenure, Linfield has won 12 NWC titles; 11 of those have been outright, most recently in 2022 … During Smith's tenure, Linfield has put together 7 unbeaten regular seasons
