Photo, story and shutout statistics thanks to Dennis Anderson, Wildcatville contributor.
Merri Sayers decorates a wooden goose egg to commemorate each shutout by a Linfield football team. This season there have been two, by identical 59-0 scores, over George Fox and Pacific.
The goose eggs are presented to Defensive Coordinator Jackson Vaughan.
Sayers owns the Merri Artist art supplies store on NE Third Street between Davis and Evans in McMinnville.
In the "old days" when Jay Locey was defensive coordinator, he received real goose eggs from Harvest Fresh store in McMinnville. The wooden goose eggs last longer.
The 59-0 shutout of Pacific on November 15 secured Linfield's sixth consecutive Northwest Conference championship and berth in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
LINFIELD FOOTBALL SHUTOUT (GOOSE EGGS) FOOTBALL WINS
1897 --
The goose eggs are presented to Defensive Coordinator Jackson Vaughan.
Sayers owns the Merri Artist art supplies store on NE Third Street between Davis and Evans in McMinnville.
In the "old days" when Jay Locey was defensive coordinator, he received real goose eggs from Harvest Fresh store in McMinnville. The wooden goose eggs last longer.
The 59-0 shutout of Pacific on November 15 secured Linfield's sixth consecutive Northwest Conference championship and berth in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
LINFIELD FOOTBALL SHUTOUT (GOOSE EGGS) FOOTBALL WINS
1897 --
12 Western Oregon 0
1901 --
45 George Fox 0
Earlier in 1901, George Fox defeated
Linfield 54-0 and Linfield played a 0-0 tie with Pacific
1902 --
3 Oregon
State 0
6 Lewis & Clark 0
1903 --
35 Portland Academy 0
1904 --
11 Western Oregon 0
43 Portland YMCA 0
1905 --
12 Pacific 0
Football was
suspended at Linfield from 1906 through 1921
1922 --
20 Pacific 0
1923 --
16 George Fox 0
1924 --
13
Chemawa
0
1925 --
3 Willamette 0
(First victory over
Willamette; only points Linfield scored in 7 games in 1925; first season in
Northwest Conference)
1926 --
13 Chemawa
0
55 Western Oregon 0
52 George Fox 0
31 Lewis & Clark 0
1927 --
19 University of Portland 0
83 Western Oregon 0
6 Oregon City
0
(Also played a scoreless tie
with Pacific in 1927)
The Drought Years
Linfield did not score in its first six games of 1928 and its first five
games of 1929; the 'Cats were scoreless in 11 of 12 games.
The Lever Years
Linfield Hall of Fame coach Henry Lever did not have an auspicious
start. In his first season (1930), the Wildcats were shut out in six of eight
games. That made it 17 shut-out defeats in 22 games in 1928, 1929 and 1930.
In coach Lever's
first three seasons -- through 1932 -- Linfield amassed a record of 4 wins,18
losses and 1 tie. The Wildcats were shut out 10 times and scored more than one
touchdown only three times.
Lever's
teams improved. They
improved so much and his overall contributions to Linfield sports were so great
that the street that now fronts Linfield's football, baseball and soccer
stadiums is named Lever Street.
1932 --
14 St. John's Bachelors 0
7 Lewis & Clark 0
12 Pacific
0
1933 --
18 Pacific 0
15 Lewis & Clark 0
31 Pacific
0
1934 --
9 University of Portland 0
12 Lewis & Clark 0
1935 --
6 Whitman 0
14 College of Idaho 0
27 Southern Oregon 0
1935 was Linfield's
first Northwest Conference championship team. One of its best players was Paul Durham,
who 26 years later would coach Linfield into its first national-championship
game.
1935 also included
two scoreless ties, with Pacific and Pacific Lutheran, so Linfield actually
shut out five of its nine opponents.
1936 --
45 College of Idaho 0
32 Lewis & Clark 0
1937 --
{
6 St. Martin's 0
{12 Central Washington 0
{19 San Francisco State 0
{
= consecutive games
1938 --
6 College of Idaho 0
Linfield lost by
shutout in its first three games of 1938 and its last game of 1937.
1939 --
7 Western Oregon 0
21 College of Idaho 0
1941 --
3 St. Martin's 0
1942 --
50 George Fox 0
7 Western Oregon 0
Many colleges, especially
on the Pacific Coast, suspended their football programs in 1943, '44 and '45
because of World War II.
1946 --
{20 Whitman 0
{13 British Columbia 0
{43 Lewis & Clark 0
{
= consecutive games
In
football's return after World War II, and its first season under coach Wayne
Harm,
Linfield
lost three of its first five games by shutout, but won its last three by
shutout.
1947
--
23
British Columbia 0
18 St. Martin's 0
18 Western Oregon 0
1948 --
6 Western Oregon 0
Paul Durham's first season as coach
1949 --
49 Eastern Oregon 0
19 Whitman
0
20 Willamette
0
After the 20-0 win over Willamette, Linfield President Harry Dillin stood on his head on the Maxwell Field 50-yard line. He promised to do so because for some 24 years Linfield had not beaten Willamette in the sport.
1950 --
20 Whitman 0
{34 Southern Oregon 0
{46 British Columbia 0
{ 7
College of Idaho 0
{
= consecutive games
1951 --
6 Pacific 0
1952 --
27 Southern Oregon 0
16 Eastern Washington 0
1955 --
29 Willamette 0
1956 --
No
shut-out victories but a 0-0 tie with Portland State
1959 --
34 Portland State 0
14 College of Idaho 0
1961 --
52 Whitman 0
46 Pacific
0
Linfield
played in NAIA national-championship game for the first of 6 times.
1962 --
47 College of Idaho 0
39 Portland State 0
13 Pacific
0
1963 --
7 Eastern Washington 0
19 College of Idaho 0
{16 Western Washington 0
{21 Whitman
0
21 Willamette
0
{
= consecutive games
First
time Linfield shut out five teams in same season.
1964 --
{
7 Eastern Washington 0
{42 British Columbia 0
6 College of Idaho 0
{31 Portland State 0
{63 Pacific
0
{
= consecutive games
Second
season in a row that Linfield shut out five opponents
1965 --
17 Pacific Lutheran 0
1966 --
61 Whitworth 0
21 Pacific Lutheran 0
44 Whitman
0
1967 --
{24 Portland State 0
{27 Pacific
0
{
= consecutive games
1968 --
16 Western Oregon 0
26 Pacific
0
First
season for national college Hall of Fame coach Ad Rutschman
1969 --
14 Lewis & Clark 0
35 College of Idaho 0
1970 --
10 Central Washington 0
28 Willamette 0
1971 --
23 Willamette 0
1973 --
17 Willamette 0
1974 --
29 Whitman 0
1978 --
35 Willamette 0
First
shutout in 37 games since 1974.
1979 --
35 Lewis & Clark 0
1980 --
45 Willamette 0
54 Pacific
0
1982 --
41 Pacific 0
Linfield
won the first of three NAIA Division II national championships in five years
with a 12-0-0 record
1983 --
19 Western Oregon 0
1984 --
2 Pacific 0
{55 Willamette
0
{26 St. Ambrose (Iowa) 0
{
= consecutive games
Linfield
won NAIA-II national championship with 12-0 record
1986 --
23 Simon Fraser (Canada) 0
17 Baker (Kansas) 0
NAIA-II national championship game
1990 --
23 Pacific 0
First
shutout in 31 games since 1986
1991 --
39 Puget Sound 0
40 Western Oregon 0
1992 --
30 Oregon Tech 0
26 Western Washington 0
Linfield
went 12-1; played in NAIA-II national championship game
1994 --
7 Western Oregon 0
1997 --
49 Lewis & Clark 0
Between
1992 and 1997, Linfield played 46 games with one shut-out victory
1999 --
48 Redlands (California) 0
42 Puget Sound 0
2001 --
53 Puget Sound 0
2002 --
57 Puget Sound 0
49 Lewis & Clark 0
35 Whitworth 0
2003 --
62 Puget Sound 0
55 Lewis & Clark 0
2004 --
52 Rowan (New Jersey) 0
Linfield
won its fourth national championship, and first in NCAA Division III with
a 13-0 record. The Northwest Conference moved from the NAIA to NCAA
in 1998.
2005 --
No
shut-out victories, but the Wildcats held four opponents to one touchdown.
2006 --
40 Lewis & Clark 0
2007 --
37 Puget Sound 0
24 Pacific Lutheran 0
66 Lewis & Clark 0
2008 --
9 Menlo (California) 0
45 Pacific Lutheran 0
2010 --
38 Menlo 0
52 Lewis & Clark 0
2012 --
63 Lewis & Clark 0
2013 --
{45 Case Western (Ohio) 0
{29
Pacific Lutheran 0
{
= consecutive games
2014
--
59 George
Fox 0
59 Pacific 0
