Crusaders take game over again
Linfield’s Keegan Weiss just fails to down a 48-yard punt by Colton Ramos inside the 1-yard line in the Wildcat’s final drive of the third quarter. Mary Hardin-Baylor led 17-3 at the time and won the game 24-3.
September 16, 2017
The rematch against Division III national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Crusaders ended with a devastating defeat for the Wildcats.
Poor kickoff coverage, a dynamic opposing offense, and a lack of rhythm from the Wildcats offense led to a 24-3 loss for the home team.
Mary Hardin-Baylor’s quarterback, T.J. Josey, started the scoring by finding an open lane and making a 74-yard sprint to the end zone in their first possession.
Before the first half ended, the Wildcat defense was able to hold the current national champs to 10 points, only allowing a field goal by the Crusaders’ John Mowery.
The Linfield offense was able to get a scoring drive right before the end of the first half thanks to Willy Warne’s, ’19, field goal from the 51-yard line.
The second half started out with a bang, with Bryce Wilkerson, returning the kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown giving the Crusaders a twopoint lead.
The Wildcats defense was able to dominate the Crusaders’ offense for the majority of the third quarter. The Wildcats fended off the Crusaders from scoring but the ‘Cats offense could not get anything started.
The end came in the fourth quarter, when the Crusaders’ Josey completed a pass to wide receiver Isaiah Townes, for a 35-yard touchdown that led to a demanding 24-3 lead.
After the game, Wildcats Head Coach Joseph Smith said that as a young team, there was a lot to be proud of, such as good plays and great punting by Colton Ramos, ‘19.
However, Smith said there is a noticeable lack of physicality, which is something he wants to work on by focusing on basic fundamentals in the weeks to follow.
“It was just really disappointing,” said quarterback Troy Fowler, ‘19. Fowler talked about sharing the quarterback position with Aiden Wilder, ’20. “There is no bad blood,” Fowler said. “We both give 100 percent when we are out there.”
Smith added that whoever leads the offense in the quarterback position is a week-by-week decision.
Fowler said there is a lot of learning to do before the team takes on the Whitworth Pirates. He also said that the bye week will help the team improve, learn, and get to where they want to be.
The Wildcats play Whitworth on Sept. 30 for Homecoming weekend at the Catdome.
Dre sanders • Sep 25, 2017 at 12:09 pm
I agree with your comments Kevin , I will be home watching this tilt between WW& LF for league bragging rights . LF will have to score 30 to win which is possible & be more physical on both sides of the ball , defense MUST have A great week of practice & DB most be rotated like the chapman game to stay fresh and be into the game . LF always has A outstanding D scheme and it must be executed almost perfect this week . LF does have some athletes on both sides of the ball that could be key , but they have to be on the field to make a difference, should be interesting .
Kevin Johnson • Sep 19, 2017 at 2:21 pm
I love watching Linfield play football 2017 but what I don’t understand is how could you have so many good under developed players on your team. What I mean is why they don’t play younger players and give them more playing time so that when Seniors and Juniors get ready to move out of the Football program there is plenty of new talent behind them to fill those shoes. The last two years Linfiend Football program has failed to develop these talented players on the side lines and now the program will problemly lose a lot of games because of Coaches not making the right decisions. To me its simple You have players leaving the program what needs to happen is linfield needs to develop as many players as possible to keep its football program on Top and Beat Teams like Mary Hardin and other high ranked teams. The only way you do that is by putting younger players in the tuff games and giving them experience. Perhaps the coaches thought Riddle and running back would be at Linfield for ever then wont leave never become seniors. That’s what I call ** failure to prepare. So now who will be the QB just make a decision You got to have one guy that’s your QB and you can still play both But only one can be Starter. And if Linfield doesn’t start developing and letting all those talented players play in games and get more experience soon more will be moving on as seniors and the program will never beat High ranking teams with talent why because they develop there freshman and Sophomores. There is only 1 finger and to point and you point it at the >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Coaches for not developing and letting freshman players play when you have a 47 to 3 lead at half time Got to get with the Program and quit hurting the football program and let everybody play you have 100 players surely there is talent there. This is my opinion and what I ‘ve seen Thank you
Sincerely
Kevin Johnson
Dre sanders • Sep 19, 2017 at 1:17 pm
I have A friend who son attends linfield , I travel to Oregon often and go to the games , I keep hearing this is a young team but disagree, they are inexperienced because for the last two years attending games on my visits they have been an outstanding team beating opponents by a average of 40 per game , what I also noticed is a lot of their 1st and 2nd year players got very little field time which would have been a valuable asset right now , most of their starters are senior junior players which is not young , but inexperienced and I put that on the coaching staff for not recognizing they were going to lose 6 receivers , 2 running backs and 4-5 secondary personnel and not grooming the younger players .