Linfield's Defense is Elite: Going into Saturday's game, North Central (IL) had the most balanced offense the Wildcats had seen all season, and nobody could have seen the nuclear performance of the Wildcat defense coming. Sure, they gave up 416 yards and running back Nick Kukuc ran wild, but the Wildcats forced seven turnovers, had a defensive touchdown, and held the Cardinals to a season-low point total. Except for the Mary-Hardin Baylor game in the 2009 playoffs, never before has such a dominant defensive effort been seen by Linfield in the playoffs.
The Up-tempo attack works against elite defenses: For the first 13 minutes of the game, Linfield's offense totaled 19 yards and seemingly couldn't get out of their own red zone. Late in the first quarter, the 'Cat Attack found their rhythm through the air, and by the end of the game, the 'Cats racked up 331 yards of offense against the toughest defense they'd seen all season. Mickey Inns had yet another wonderful game, going 24-39 for 305 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions as a result.
Linfield looks like a legit contender: Last season, Linfield was up 27-7 at halftime against Wesley, seemingly a legit national title contender before Wesley went on their legendary 42-0 run to open the second half and bring Linfield's season to a screeching halt. After dominating North Central (IL), a team that had made mince meat of #8 Cal Lutheran the previous week, the Wildcat's number-three national ranking has been seemingly validated, reaching the round of 8 for the first time since 2009, when their season ended one game shy of the national championship game.
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