McMINNVILLE, Ore. – No. 2 Linfield scored 24 straight second-half points to run away from No. 25 Cortland State 38-22 in the second round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs Saturday at Maxwell Field. Quarterback Tom Knecht came off the bench to pass for two touchdowns and ran for another score as the Wildcats reached the quarterfinals for the fourth straight season.
Linfield (11-0) advances to face Mary Hardin-Baylor (11-1) next Saturday at 12 noon local time. The site will be officially announced Sunday by the NCAA. Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated Huntingdon 43-23 in another second-round game Saturday.
Cortland State (9-3), which was within 14-10 at halftime against Linfield, couldn't score again until tallying two touchdowns in the final two minutes. The 22 points were the most scored against the Wildcats this season and four points was as close as a team has been to Linfield at halftime.
"We made a lot of unforced errors, some assignment mistakes, some penalties that got us behind the chains and really kept us from getting a good rhythm," Linfield head coach Joseph Smith said. "That said, I was impressed with the physicality of Cortland. We knew coming in they would be a tough, very physical team. They were well-coached and did some things schematically to give us problems on offense, as well as attack our defense a little bit."
Knecht and starter Sam Riddle combined to complete 27 of 35 passes for 178 yards and four touchdowns. With Riddle sitting out the second half due to an injury after going 17-for-19 for 172 yards and two touchdowns, Knecht guided the Wildcats to their final four scores.Spencer Payne rushed for 89 yards to cross the 1,000-yard mark for the season for the Wildcats, giving him 1,048 yards for the season. He also caught six passes for 53 yards, while Johnny Carroll had five catches for 25 yards and a touchdown. Erick Douglas collared four receptions for 43 yards and Brian Balsiger had three for 43 yards.
Linfield finished with a 402-285 edge in total yards. Up until the Red Dragons' final two scoring drives, Linfield limited the visitors from upstate New York to 178 yards. Cortland entered the contest averageing 428.5 yards per game this season.
Linfield recorded eight sacks and intercepted Red Dragons' quarterback Sam Ferreira three times. Ferreira had been picked off just twice in the Red Dragons' first 11 games. He finished 21 for 35 passing for 232 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another 15 yards; he gained 54 yards on rushes but lost 39 on sacks.
"They were very athletic defensively," Cortland State coach Dave MacNeill said afterward. "Either screens or draws and what better draw to run than the last guy with the ball in his hand (Ferreira). We always tell him if you have some room to go, then go ahead and go because it's an extra dimension. When you get behind and you have an athletic defensive line, you have to call off the dogs a little bit."
Donny Davis rushed for 25 yards for Cortland State before leaving the game due to an injury late in the second quarter. Jon Mannix led the Red Dragons with six catches for 41 yards, Jake Smith had four catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns and Dylan Peebles four catches for 27 yards. Nick Wagner caught three balls for 55 yards and Chris Osterman netted three catches for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Alex Hoff, Asa Schwartz and Marcus McGovern had two sacks each for the Wildcats and Jake Reimer had three of Linfield's 15 tackles for lost yardage. Hoff now needs one sack to equal the Linfield career record of 38 set by Jim Mayo from 1977-79.
"Out defense did what they did and really set us up with some short fields," Smith said. "Whenever your defense plays like that and you don't turn the ball over, you're going to be pretty effective on offense."
Knecht completed 10 of 16 passes for 106 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for another 21 yards and a touchdown to help the Wildcats pull away. Linfield did it with scores on three consecutive possessions from midway through the third quarter to early in the fourth, going from a 14-10 lead to a 31-10 advantage.
Early in the third quarter, Linfield took possession at the Cortland State 43-yard line following a punt. The Wildcats faced a third-and-14 from the 37 where Knecht and Payne connected on a nine-yard pass, getting Michael Metter close enough to boot a 45-yard field goal for a 17-10 lead with 8:39 left in the period.
On Cortland State's third play of the ensuing possession, Linfield's Mikey Arkans picked off a pass at the Red Dragon 48. It appeared the Wildcats would go three-and-out, but a roughing the kicker penalty moved the ball to the Cortland State 35. An 18-yard pass from Knecht to Eric Igbinoba moved the ball to the 5 and from there, Knecht found Levi Altringer in the back of the end zone. Altringer just did get his toes inbounds in front of the goalpost for the touchdown that made it 24-10 with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Another interception on Cortland State's next drive set up the next score Linfield score. The Red Dragons had driven to the Linfield 28 but mosterback Skylor Elgarico nabbed Ferreira's pass at the 11.
Linfield marched 89 yards in nine plays, scoring on Igbinoba's nine-yard reception from Knecht to put Linfield up 31-10 with 13:14 left in the game. A key to the drive was Knecht hooking up with Balsiger for a 15-yard completion on a third-and-11 from the Cortland State 45.
Linfield added one more score with 3:34 left. Knecht knifed 12 yards for a touchdown to cap a 38-yard drive go give the Wildcats a 38-10 lead.
Cortland State finished with a pair of Ferreira touchdown passes sandwiched around an onside kick, 4 yards to Smith with 1:54 to go and 22 yards to Osterman with 1:13 remaining.
In the first half, Linfield outgained Cortland State 216-119 but was unable to put distance between itself and the Red Dragons.
The Wildcats scored first, a 24-yard pass from Riddle to Zach Kuzens with 4:51 left in the opening quarter. The Red Dragons responded on their next possession, Ferreira hitting Smith on a 54-yard pass on a third-and-21 play on the final play of the first quarter to make it 7-7.
Linfield went back in front 14-7 with 10:30 to go in the half as Riddle hit Douglass with a 1-yard touchdown pass capping a 45-yard drive. Late in the second quarter, Cortland State drove as far as the Wildcat 16-yard line before settling for a 39-yard field goal by Shane Cronin to make it 14-10 at halftime.
'CAT SCRATCH: Saturday's game was the first-ever meeting between Linfield and Cortland State. . .the two schools did cross paths previously in the NCAA baseball and softball playoff tournaments, however … the Wildcats have now played 20 games against teams from east of the Mississippi River, going 12-8. In those games, Linfield is 9-2 at home, 3-5 on the road and 0-1 on a neutral field … in those games, Linfield is 9-8 in national playoff games and 3-0 in regular season games … Linfield's first game against a team from east of the Mississippi was in 1982, beating Westminster (Pa.) 37-9 in an NAIA Division II semifinal in McMinnville. . . In games played on a November 28, Linfield now has a record of 3-0 … the first Linfield game on that date was in 1935 against Albany (now Lewis & Clark), a 21-6 win in Albany; the other prior to Saturday was in 2009 against Mary Hardin-Baylor, a 53-21 win in McMinnville in an NCAA Division III second-round game.