It was a familiar barrier: the
second round of the NCAA playoffs. The past
two Linfield teams couldn't make it past the second round, whether it be
against Wesley or St. Thomas. Would history
repeat itself?
On
Saturday, The Wildcats overcame recent history in impressive fashion, using a
bone-crushing defensive performance and timely offense to propel themselves
into the round of eight for the first time since 2009.
“Anytime
you are able to generate the amount of turnovers we did, and then score seven
points, it’s a heck of a defensive game,” Linfield coach Joseph Smith
said. “I felt like our guys played with
great energy, as usual, and really were fast to the football. I liked how they tackled for the most part,
and considering that we were facing a good offense, I thought we played well.”
The
third-ranked Linfield Wildcats defeated the #14 North Central (IL) 30-14 on a
beautiful October afternoon at Maxwell Field.
The win improved Linfield to 11-0 on the season, while the loss left the
Cardinals with a 9-3 record for 2012.
The
Wildcat offense had trouble getting out of the shadow of their end zone in the
first quarter, but was able to get their up-tempo attack going in the second
and third quarters; the ‘Cat Attack racked up 331 yards of offense on the day, which
included 305 yards through the air. Mickey
Inns had a stellar afternoon against the toughest defense Linfield had faced
all season, going 24-39 for 305 yards with two touchdowns and no
interceptions. Lucas Jepson led all
Receivers with 132 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions. Charlie Poppen added 83 yards and one
touchdown on four receptions. Deidre Weirsma
added 49 yards on six receptions.
“Early
on, we got the ball at the four, or something of that nature; I hate that,” Smith
said. “No coach likes getting the ball
backed up in that black zone. We just
wanted to move the ball and punt, and not give them the ball in scoring
position. I was actually pleased with
our first possession. It took us a while
to get things dialed in, and the lack of a running game hurt us again early as
we kind of figured out what they were doing and made adjustments. Very proud of how Mickey played; he played a
very good football game, and I thought our receivers played well. I thought we pass-protected well enough
against an outstanding defensive front.”
North
Central (IL)’s offense, arguably the most balanced offense the Wildcats have
faced all season, was held down in a way never seen in 2012. The Cardinals racked up 416 yards of offense,
about their season average, but turned the ball over a season-high seven times
and was held to a season-low 14 points.
Nick Kukuc ran the ball 25 times for 192 yards and two touchdowns, while
leading the team with 51 yards on two receptions. Spencer Stanek went 19-39 for 235 yards with
no touchdowns and five interceptions.
“Early
on in the season, we were up against the best teams that we've faced, and our
defense was not up to par,” Smith said in regards to the 12 forced turnovers by
Linfield’s defense in the playoffs. “As
we got up to par, the offenses got worse, and things changed. Later in the season, teams were scared to
hold on to the ball, so you saw a lot of safe play-calling because they didn't want to face that pass rush. As we get
further on, teams don’t know you as well, and so things change in the playoffs.”
After
playing through a scoreless first quarter where Linfield couldn't get out of
their own red zone, Linfield got things going in the second quarter. Inns capped a nine play, 80-yard touchdown
drive by tossing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Poppen with 14:22 to go in the
second quarter to make it 7-0. On the
Titan’s next possession, Dominique Forrest intercepted a Stanek pass, returning
it 76 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 with 10:48 to go in the
quarter. After the Titans fumbled the
ball away on their ensuing possession, Josh Kay tacked on a 44-yard field goal
to make it 17-0 Linfield with 6:42 to go in the quarter.
After
Brandon Funk intercepted another Stanek pass, Inns connected with Jepson on a
64-yard bomb down the sidelines, making it 24-0 with 8:18 to go in the third
quarter. After Michael Link picked off yet
another Stanek pass, Chad Coburn capped an eight play, 53-yard touchdown drive
with a 4-yard run, making it 30-0 following a blocked extra point by Josh Kay. Kukuc scored on a 32-yard touchdown run with
2:32 to go in the third quarter to make it 30-7.
“I
think every wants to try to convert anytime they’re put into scoring position,”
Smith said. “I think we have done a nice
job of making use of momentum change, and converting in those situations is
something we had to do.”
In
the fourth quarter, Kukuc added a 15-yard touchdown run to make it 30-14 with
14:54 to go in the quarter. Linfield’s
defense picked off Stanek on the Cardinal’s final two possessions to snuff out
the comeback attempt.
Linfield’s next game
is at home against the fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh Titans in the third round of the
NCAA playoffs at Maxwell Field. The
Titans are the Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions, snapping
UW-Whitewater’s three year national championship streak as well as their
conference championship streak.
North Central (IL) finished the season with a 9-3 record, and were the co-champions of the College
Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
Link to Boxscore: http://www.linfield.edu/sports/stats/fb/ncc1124.htm
Link to Instant Analysis: http://wildcatspread40.blogspot.com/2012/11/linfield-vs-north-central-il-instant.html
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