For two and half quarters, Linfield
and Willamette were living up to the hype of the Northwest Conference game of
the year. The game was tied midway
through the third quarter, both teams were struggling to establish an offensive
rhythm, and the Wildcats appeared to be getting their toughest test in a month.
Then,
after scoring three touchdowns in a span of two and a half minutes, the game
was over, and the Wildcats turned the Northwest conference game of the year
into another blowout win, like they did last year against Lewis &
Clark.
The
third-ranked Linfield Wildcats defeated the Willamette Bearcats 45-10 on a
rainy afternoon at Maxwell Field. The
win pushed Linfield to 7-0 on the season, and 4-0 in conference play. The loss dropped Willamette to 6-2 on the
season, 2-2 in NWC play.
“I
think you felt a lot of teams in our conference wanting to exert themselves, to
kind of take the ‘big-kid-on-the-block’ status, and our guys aren’t looking to
give that up anytime soon, so I think there’s a little bit of a statement that
they wanted to make a little bit to some of these contenders,” Linfield coach
Joseph Smith said.
Linfield’s
offense faced a stern test from the Bearcat defense in the first half, but wore
on them as the game went on, breaking down the Bearcats in the second half with
their fast tempo and explosive playmaking abilities. The ‘Cat Attack posted 371 yards of offense
for the game, including 239 yards in the second half, when they outscored
Willamette 35-0. Mickey Inns had a
stellar day in the rain, going 17-31 for 229 yards and three touchdowns with no
interceptions. Charlie Poppen led all
receivers with 95 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. Lucas Jepson added 87 yards on five
receptions. John Shaffer led all rushers
with 53 yards on 21 carries.
“They
were a good defense, and we knew going in that it would be a difficult day,”
Smith said. “I have a lot of respect for
Willamette’s defense; a lot of seniors on that group and some very fine
players. They were able to take away our
running back; I was a little stubborn in the first half trying to keep that
going. In reality, I kinda got mad that
we couldn’t run, I kept trying to run, and finally in the second half, I said ‘alright
fine, we’ll throw the ball.’ Mickey made
them pay.”
Willamette’s
offense came into the game averaging 42.3 points and 540 yards of offense per
game, including a nation-leading 384 yards per game through the air. They appeared poised to give Linfield’s
defense the biggest challenge that they’ve ever had to face from a conference
opponent in the Joseph Smith era, but instead we saw Linfield put forth
arguably their best defensive performance of the season. The Bearcats were held to a season-low 108
yards of offense, which included a season-low 12 yards rushing. Quarterback Josh Dean, having the best
statistical season in Willamette History, had his worst day of the season,
going 13-30 for 96 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions. Dean was also sacked seven times as
Linfield’s front seven ate alive Willamette’s offensive line.
“I
think they were leading the country in passing,” Smith said in reference to
Willamette’s 108 yards of total offense.
“I don’t know if the Hardin-Simmons game affects all that stuff, but
yeah, that’s quite a significant reduction.”
The
first half didn’t see a lot of fireworks as both defenses did a good job of
locking down the offense. Josh Yoder
scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 Linfield with 6:45 to go in the
first quarter. Following a Linfield blocked
punt, Dean scored on a 14 yard touchdown run to tie the game up at 7 with 12:40
to go in the second quarter. Linfield
fumbled the ball away on their 11-yard line, and Willamette tacked on a 28-yard
field goal to make it 10-7 with 10:04 to go in the second quarter. Josh Kay tacked on a 34-yard field goal on Linfield’s
next possession to tie the game at 10 with 8:04 to go in the second quarter.
“The
blocked punt, and certainly the fumble that we had, those are pivotal plays
that gave them life, and that’s really the only reason that they scored,” Smith
said. “I was really proud of how we
responded. It was good for us to have
that adversity, good for us to have to play in that condition, and I’m just
proud of how out guys played, battled, and executed under pressure.”
Midway
through the third quarter, the Wildcats made their move. Inns threw a five-yard touchdown pass to
Deidre Weirsma to make the score 17-10 with 8:19 to go in the third
quarter. On Willamette’s next
possession, Linfield’s Colin Forman blocked a Willamette punt and recovered it
in the end zone to push Linfield’s lead to 24-10 with 6:07 left in the third
quarter. On their next possession, Dean’s
pass was picked off by Kyle Wright. On
the next play, Inns connected with Poppen on a 38-yard pass for a touchdown,
making the score 31-10 with 5:43 to go in the third quarter.
Inns
connected with Poppen on a three-yard touchdown pass to make the score 38-10
with 14:41 left in the fourth quarter, capping a 10 play, 50 yard drive that took
4:35 off the clock. Mikkel Smythe added
a two-yard touchdown run to make the score 45-10 with 6:31 to go in the
game.
Linfield’s next
game is against Pudget Sound, who’s coming off a 41-14 loss to Pacific Lutheran
on Saturday. The loggers lost to
Linfield at Maxwell Field 73-7 last season, and at y Baker Stadium in 2010 by a
score of 55-14.
The
Bearcat’s next game is against Pacific, who is coming off a 42-20 victory over
Lewis & Clark. Willamette defeated
the Boxers 51-17 earlier in the season in a non-conference game.
Link to Postgame analysis video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpUreaYQWhM
Link to Instant analysis: http://wildcatspread40.blogspot.com/2012/10/linfield-vs-willamette-instant-analysis.html
Link to Boxscore: http://www.linfield.edu/sports/stats/fb/wu1027.htm
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