It was hard to tell which team was ranked No. 6 in the nation during Saturday’s football game against Pacific Lutheran.

The Lutes dominated the Linfield offense, but the Wildcats prevailed in overtime in walk-off fashion to win 16-10.

The Lutes got the ball first and marched downfield, but the Wildcat defense was able to hold them to a field goal.

The Wildcat offense could not seem to get the chains moving, with three quick three-and-out drives to start the game.

Aidan Wilder, ’20, got to start as quarterback for the third consecutive week. He was backed up by Wyatt Smith, ’21.

Wilder completed five of 11 passing attempts and was limited to just 34 yards while throwing a touchdown pass and an interception.

The Lutes led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Lute defense showed up to play, stunning the Wildcat offense.

But a defense that has carried the Wildcats all season long showed up just as prepared.

“The offense has our backs and we have theirs. It’s our responsibility to the team to help the offense when they need it,” Andrew Schweiterman, ’18, said.

Marcus McGovern, ’18, forced a fumble that was recovered on the Lutes’ 47-yard-line by Jason Farlow, ’18.

The turnover set up a perfectly thrown ball by Wilder that found J.D. Lasswell, ’19, in the corner of the end zone nearly five minutes later for the Wildcats’ first score of the game.

“We had a lot of confidence in our defense and had to keep fighting,” Aaron Kokubun, ’19, said.

The Lutes responded with some creativity. A 43-yard flea-flicker was followed by a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jacob King, who barely kept his feet inbounds as he made the catch.

An interception by Anthony Bautista led fans to think that the Lutes would have one last drive to score be- fore halftime.

The Wildcats had other plans.

Wade Ransom, ’18, forced a fumble, which was recovered by Schweiterman, but the offense was unable to capitalize.

The score at halftime was 10-7 in favor of the Lutes.

All the momentum stayed with the Lutes in the third quarter, as the Wildcats continued to struggle on the offensive side of the ball.

Pacific Lutheran had a successful seven-minute drive, but the Wildcat defense came in clutch once again, as Schweiterman intercepted a pass that was deflected off a Lute receiver.

“We have no control of what the offense can do and we love those types of situations,” Schweiterman said.

Smith was able to bring the offense into the red zone, but the Lute defense struck again and held the Wildcats to a field goal.

The score was tied 10-10 at the end of three quarters.

The fourth quarter was all defense again, and the score remained 10-10 going into overtime.

The Lutes got the ball first and were forced to kick when the ball was blocked by the Linfield defense. The Wildcats just needed to score to win the game.

Willy Warne, ’19, was brought in early on a third down play and missed to the right of the goal post. However, a roughing the kicker penalty was called on the Lutes, giving the Wild- cats a first down.

On the next play, Chidubem Nnoli, ’19, ran the ball in for five yards to win game for the Wildcats.

“We knew we weren’t going to lose this game and it was going to come down to the offense executing,” Kokubun said. “In the end, we did what we needed to do to come out on top.”

The Wildcats are now 6-1 and 5-0 in conference.

When the celebrating comes to an end, the Wildcats look ahead to gear up for senior night against Puget Sound at 1:00 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Catdome.