With a Northwest Conference title and a spot in the playoffs already reserved, the Wildcats concluded their regular season with a 35-7 win over Pacific.

The Wildcats dominated the Boxers on both sides of the ball.

Wyatt Smith, ’21, started at quarterback for the second week in a row, throwing 10 for 14 on the day with three touchdowns and an interception.

“He really started to gain more and more confidence and has been improving every week,” said J.D. Lasswell, ’19. “He had a great game and controlled the ball well.”

Lasswell, the team’s leading receiver, caught his eighth and ninth touchdown receptions of the season.

With 6:34 left in the first quarter, Smith found Lasswell with a 38-yard pass for Lasswell’s first touchdown of the day. His second touchdown reception was a 31-yard pass, also from Smith, with 7:42 left in the second quarter.

After losing a handful of receivers due to graduation last year, the Wildcats looked to Lasswell and Kyle Kimball, ’21, to fill in the gaps.

With 9:26 on the clock in the third quarter, Smith found Kimball in the end zone for his third touchdown reception of the season.

Chidubem Nnoli, ’20, also recorded two touchdowns in Saturday’s win. The leading rusher for the Wildcats finished his regular season with nine rushing touchdowns.

On the defensive side of things, the Wildcats were able to limit the Boxers to just 147 total yards. Wade Ransom, ’18, led the way with eight tackles, followed by Jason Farlow, ’18, with seven.

“We finished conference giving up just 8.6 points per game and with that kind of dominance, it leaves us with a good chance of winning games,” Farlow said.

One concern for Linfield fans was the large amount of penalties. The Wildcats received 11 penalties for 117 yards while the Boxers received just six penalties for 56 yards.

Wanting to finish the regular season strong, players on both the offense and defense let the heat of the moment get to them at times.

“We have to fix that going into playoffs,” Farlow said. “But any extra possession a team gets can be key when competition is lifted towards the end of the season.”

The program extended its winning season streak to 62 consecutive seasons in 2017. The team finished with an overall record of 8-1 and a perfect conference record of 7-0. The only team to hand the Wildcats a loss this season was defending national champion, Mary Hardin-Baylor.

With playoffs on the rise, the Wildcats look to do nothing different than what they have been doing all season long to prepare.

“Whether we play the No. 1 team or the No. 32 team, we will be ready to play,” Farlow said.

The Wildcats look forward to a first-round game on Saturday, Nov. 18. against Hardin Simmons at Maxwell Field.