Grant Lucas
Review staff writer
An early fourth-quarter field goal by football’s senior placekicker Scott Birkhofer proved to make the difference as Linfield prevailed over the Whitworth Pirates, 31-28, Oct. 11, extending Linfield’s homecoming win streak to 12 games.
In the previous two
seasons, Whitworth University knocked the Wildcats out of championship contention with big conference wins. Linfield refused to allow
a third.
In their first drive, the Pirates used a play out of their normal bag of tricks. After advancing the ball to the Linfield 21-yard line, Whitworth junior quarterback Mike Peck dropped back and passed the ball straight out to the sideline to senior wide receiver Steve Stockton. Still behind the line of scrimmage, Stockton threw up a jump ball that was reeled in by freshman wide receiver Justin Monahan at the Wildcat two-yard line.
Junior halfback Adam Anderson punched through the defense and into the end zone from there to give Whitworth the early lead.
The Wildcats responded with a 12-play and 64-yard drive that was capped off with a one-yard touchdown dive by senior running back
Reggie Ford.
Turnovers soon became an issue for both squads. With great field position at the end of the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Cole Franklin, who returned from injury, mishandled the snap, and the ball was recovered by Whitworth.
Linfield quickly forced a punt, but sophomore kick returner P.J. Sequeira was stripped of the ball, resulting in excellent field position for the Pirates.
The drive would be short-lived as freshman safety
Taylor Skore stepped in front of a Peck pass and returned it 82 yards for the go-ahead score.
In the second quarter, the turnover woes continued. Senior wideout Travis
Masters fumbled on the Wildcat 17-yard line, and the ball was recovered by Whitworth. The Pirates capitalized when Peck completed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Anderson.
Both Linfield and Whitworth exchanged turnovers again before halftime.
Sophomore safety Bryce Comfort recovered a fumble with five minutes, 44 seconds left in the half. Fewer than 60 seconds later, Franklin was picked off by Whitworth senior defensive back McLane Stone, who ran it back 92 yards for the touchdown.
The Wildcats had one more opportunity to score when they returned a punt to the Pirate 30-yard line. Two plays later, Franklin scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown to tie it up.
The Wildcats were the first to strike in the second half when Ford powered into the end zone from seven yards out for the touchdown, giving the Wildcats the lead with 6:44 to play in the third quarter.
After driving to the Wildcat five-yard line, the Pirates were held at bay by the defense and forced to line up a field goal. The snap was low, but junior holder Cameron Stroyan rolled out of the pocket and found senior wide receiver Chad Flett for the touchdown.
After Birkhofer’s field goal with 12:17 left in the game, the Linfield defense continually harassed Peck, keeping his passes out of the endzone. Leading the way were senior defensive ends Taylor Summers and Scott Olsen. Summers came up with his only sack of the day on a third-down play with 7:30 left in the game, forcing the Pirates to punt. The ‘Cats ran out the clock from there, keeping the ball on the ground with their
running corps.
Anderson, the Northwest Conference’s leading rusher, was held to 62 yards on the ground by the stifling Wildcat defense. Peck was also limited to 93 yards on 6-15 passing.
The defense continues to be solid and defending the run well, head coach Joe Smith said.
“The only plays that really sustained drives were trick ones,” he said.
Olsen finished with five tackles and two sacks. Summers added a sack to go along with his four tackles, but it was junior linebacker Alex Tkachuk who led the defense with 10 tackles in the game.
“Our team trusts each other,” Olsen said. “Everyone on defense knows their role, and we all trust that each man will give everything he’s got. It’s been an absolute blast.”
The spotlight was on Ford as he ran for 99 yards and had two touchdowns in his first game back from injury.
“It was fun to have Reggie back,” Smith said. “He has worked incredibly hard, and it’s really nice to see his hard work pay off in terms of opportunity to play, and he did a nice job.”
Franklin finished with 45 yards rushing and 130 yards through the air.
Smith said he was pleased to see the team battle through a tough game.
“Our focus is going to get back to the fundamentals,” Olsen said. “We don’t just want a ‘W’ on Saturday, we want to get better.”
The ‘Cats next play Lewis & Clark College on Oct. 18.
