Chris Forrer – For the Review. None of the Linfield football players thought a game on the road against No. 21 Occidental College would be easy. Little did the ’Cats know how hard it would be to eke out a win.
After trailing for the first three quarters, then scoring 18 consecutive points to take the lead in the fourth, the ’Cats withstood a final Occidental rally to defeat the Tigers 31-27 Sept. 19.
In the first quarter, neither team put together a successful drive, punting the ball away a combined five consecutive times.
Occidental accrued 30 yards in penalties in that quarter alone, and Linfield’s offense was riddled with negative yard gains and a rare interception from senior quarterback Aaron Boehme.
“Any time you can go on the road to a good team’s field, it’s a good experience,” head coach Joe Smith said. “But we made a lot of mistakes and could have executed a lot better.”
Within two minutes of the start of the second quarter, the Tigers managed to score the first points of the game on a 7-yard pass by Occidental senior quarterback Scott Saunders, giving them a 7-0 lead.
The Wildcats’ offense didn’t waste any time, however, moving 57 yards down the field in three minutes. A 50-yard touchdown pass from Boehme to senior receiver Trevor Patterson capped the drive. Linfield went for the 2-point conversion following the score but couldn’t connect and stayed down 7-6.
“Occidental is a tough, scrappy team that played a hard game,” Smith said. “They played very well.”
Linfield’s offense didn’t capitalize again for the rest of the half, but the Tigers put another score on the board just before halftime to make the score 14-6. It was then when Smith went to work.
“We have a very fine, experienced staff that made all the necessary adjustments at the half,” Smith said. “We got our boys to play with more heart.”
On Linfield’s first drive of the half, freshman kicker Maika Kunioka put a 27-yard field goal straight through the uprights to bring the ’Cats to within one possession, 14-9.
“Before a kick, I just focus on my technique and clear my mind of everything,” Kunioka said. “There’s a lot of great leadership on this team, and they have influenced me a lot.”
During the first 22 minutes of the second half, Linfield’s defense dominated the Los Angeles turf, holding the Tigers to five yards of total offense.
The Wildcat offense continued its effectiveness, showing off a fantastic gadget play that saw Patterson throw a 21-yard pass to Boehme to end the third quarter. This trickery brought the ’Cats to the Occidental 3-yard line.
“We planned to use that play in the first game [of the season], but we didn’t end up needing it,” Patterson said. “We needed it pretty bad then, though.”
Just before the trick play, Linfield was in dire straits, facing a seemingly impossible 20 yards to go for the first down. The deep pass reversed the momentum of the game in the ’Cats’ favor.
“We drew it up right before we ran it,” Smith said. “It just kind of happened.”
Boehme hit Patterson immediately after the trick play for a quick score, giving Linfield its first lead of the game, 17-14.
On the offense’s next possession, Boehme ran it in himself to push the lead to 24-14.
The two teams traded scores, making it 31-20 with fewer than five minutes remaining. Occidental fought hard until the end, scoring with fewer than two minutes left on the clock to close the deficit to four points.
“Occidental never stopped fighting,” Patterson said. “They didn’t give up.”
Linfield then recovered the Tiger onside kick following a touchdown. The ’Cats ran out the clock to preserve the win.
It wasn’t a perfect game, but Linfield players and coaches couldn’t hide their satisfaction with the improvement to a 2-0 season.
“All we have to do is put on film of the game, and our guys know what they need to improve on,” Smith said. “I’m glad we got the win, but they know what they need to work on for next week.”
Boehme was again the dominant force for the Wildcats during the game. He finished with yards in every category of offense, accruing 172 yards passing, 64 yards rushing and 21 yards receiving.
Next week’s game will take the Wildcats on the road again to Southern Oregon University on Sept. 26.
“SOU is a very, very physical team,” Patterson said. “We need to send a message that we’re still keeping our strong start going.”
Southern Oregon is 1-2 on the season so far, but, according to Smith, its record doesn’t adequately reflect the Raiders’ ability. After defeating Eastern Oregon University 32-28 to start the season, SOU fought hard against NCAA Division-II Portland State University, but it lost 34-10. Last week SOU was leading No. 24 Willamette University before losing 22-15.
“It’s going to be like a scrappy high school game.” Kunioka said. “It should be fun to watch.”