Half time turn around leads to a victory for Linfield football

Ian Cooper, Staff Writer

Saturday afternoon the Wildcats took a short road trip to Pacific, routing the Boxers 48-10 in what began as a close contest.

The game was filled with errors by both teams, with multiple fumble recoveries leading to touchdowns on both sides.

Linfield gained 21 points off of recoveries, with Pacific gaining 10.

However, as the game progressed, Sam Riddle, ’17, and the ’Cats pulled ahead, racking up over 500 total yards of offense.

Riddle went 14-28 on the day, and despite being intercepted three times still dominated with four touchdowns being thrown to a total of nine receivers.

“It was definitely a frustrating game on my individual performance,” Riddle said.

Linfield’s rushing wasn’t lacking either, with eight different rushers going for a net gain of 224 yards.

The Wildcat defense also had a good day, with two interceptions, costing the Boxers just over 100 yards.

“I think our defense played an amazing game. They were constantly in bad field position with the offense not being able to flip the field,” Riddle said.

Linfield had a slow start, with the Boxers forcing punts and even scoring early enough to stay within three points through the first quarter and the majority of the second.

The Wildcats did not react under this pressure and scored with less than a minute left in the second quarter to ensure that Linfield’s lead would not be diminished, with the defense returning an interception for a touchdown.

The second half of the game the Wildcats didn’t let off the gas, blanking the Boxers and scoring 28 points.

“Coming out at the half we knew what we had to do and made some adjustments and came out ready to go,” Erick Douglas III, ’17, said.

“Our coaches did a fantastic job at half time making adjustments that allowed us to have a successful second half,” Riddle said.

This week the Wildcats will prepare to play the Bearcats. Linfield will face Willamette at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at home.

“Preparing for this game will be just like all the others, we just need to stay focused and keep raising our level of play each week. We’re all very excited to get back in the Catdome,” Douglas said.