Linfield football proudly marched into McCulloch Stadium on Saturday in Salem, Oregon, with 60 years of winning history propelling them forward. 

 Willamette’s stands were overburdened with Linfield fans eager to witness the completion of Linfield football’s 60 years of consecutive winning seasons.

 The Wildcats and Bearcats were locked in a scoreless battle through the first quarter. Linfield’s defense was lights out against the Bearcats with multiple three-and-out stops.

Meanwhile Willamette held its own, restricting the Wildcats’ field position and allowing few scoring opportunities aside from a 48-yard field goal which fell short.

Fresh into the second quarter action began to ramp up. Defensive end Alex Hoff, ’16, swatted Bearcat quarterback Ryan Knowlton’s pass for another three-and-out stop for Linfield. Hoff managed to collect three swats over the course of the game.

 “My whole career here I think I’ve had one [swat]. Having three today was out of nowhere,” Hoff said. “I noticed he was throwing a low ball so it was just a matter of getting your hands up if you couldn’t get there. I was in the right place at the right time three times and it feels great. Getting a sack today was pretty unrealistic because [Willamette] had their splits so wide, but a breakup is just as good as a sack.”

 Immediately after Hoff’s swat the Wildcats reclaimed the ball for a swift drive to the end zone. Running back Spencer Payne, ’17, carried the ball for four consecutive rushes down the left side of the field for a total of 61 yards to break the scoreless tie.

 Humble as always, Payne gave credit to everyone but himself despite his remarkable effort.

 “That drive our offensive line gave us holes to run through so when you see something like that it’s hard not to finish it,” Payne said. 

 The half remained quiet after Payne’s touchdown as Willamette held Linfield to a single touchdown and the Wildcats’ defense kept the shutout intact. Such a low scoring first half was a new and refreshing experience for the Wildcats.

“We were finally in a close game; we haven’t had a close game all season,” Coach Joe Smith said. “We talked about that coming in that we wanted to be tested and it was great. I wanted to see how we would respond to some adversity and I was impressed with Willamette’s defense. We moved the ball a lot in the first half with about 270 yards but we had three field goal situations that went awry and stalled in the red zone a little bit.”

When the second half rolled around Linfield football resumed its powerhouse ways. 

Payne had another rushing TD with 8:24 remaining in the 3rdquarter. The floodgates officially opened for Linfield’s offense after a 65-yard pass from Sam Riddle, ’17, that fell perfectly into wide receiver Eric Igbinoba’s basket catch for a TD. 

Linfield was on fire on both sides of the ball after that TD, scoring four TDs in 5:17, with two offensive and two defensive scoring efforts.

When the dust settled the scoreboard read 49-7, Linfield. What those numbers truly meant was 60 consecutive winning seasons.

“Normally the streak was somewhat of a foregone conclusion but this year it was nice because it was 60 and that’s such a big number,” Smith said. “We started to receive a lot of attention from alumni and press. I wanted to see us accomplish this and 60 years is a long time to do anything and I am real pleased with that but we have to keep getting better.”

Payne took a moment to reflect on what it meant to be a part of Linfield’s historic franchise after the game.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world, I wouldn’t have chosen anywhere else. I love Linfield and one of my favorite people in the world is Coach Smith,” Payne said. “Everyone is so close, offense and defense, and you see all the fans we have here it’s a hard atmosphere not to love.”