Wildcat Texas memories: Photos from 31-28 football win over UMHB 11/29/2014 Belton, Texas

Linfield Football beats UMHB, 31-28, in Texas 11/29/2014 NCAAD3 playoffs

  

There will be another slideshow tomorrow (Sunday 11/30/2014) with more photos from Linfield Football at UMHB (Saturday 11/29/2014).

TEXAS photos thanks:
--Jon & Maria Girod 
--Chris & Milli Chennell 

NOT IN TEXAS photos thanks: 
--Chuck Humble 
--Den Surles
--John Schindelar

Linfield Football before 11/29/2014 UMHB game in Texas

Linfield's Alex Hoff eyes a national title, and school's sack record (Nov. 2015 Oregonian story)

http://www.oregonlive.com/collegefootball/index.ssf/2015/11/linfields_alex_hoff_eyes_a_nat.html

Linfield's Alex Hoff eyes a national title, and school's sack record

By Nick Daschel for Oregonian 11/26/2015 (electronically) and 11/27/2015 (in print).

McMINNVILLE -- The road to college football recruiting often takes strange twists, particularly at the lower levels where it's often about turning over unusual rocks to find an impact player.

Linfield coach Joseph Smith was once in Bend at Mountain View High School, talking to some of the team's players. He asked several who was the toughest player they faced all season.

To a man, they told him this kid at Lebanon. Smith was intrigued. He did some research, and found out this "kid" happened to be the half-brother to Linfield's Tyler Steele, then an all-American defensive tackle.

"I thought, if he's half as good as Tyler, he's a top guy for us," Smith said.

Alex Hoff has turned out to be more than a starter and a top guy for the Wildcats. The senior defensive end is already the school's career leader in tackles for loss with 66, and is closing in on Linfield's record for career sacks. Hoff has 33, three behind record-holder Jim Mayo (1977-79).

Should the No. 2 Wildcats make an extended run in the NCAA Division III playoffs, which continue with a second-round game against Cortland State (N.Y) Saturday in McMinnville, Hoff could finish among the national career top 10 in both categories.

"I just wanted to come here and play football and be the best I can be. It feels awesome to be among the greats of Division III," Hoff said.

Frankly, Hoff's sack and tackle-loss totals may be far greater if he weren't playing on a dominant team like Linfield. The past two seasons, as the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Hoff as flourished, the Wildcats have put away most of their opponents by halftime. Hoff rarely plays into the third quarter of most regular season games.

"We go up 50 points in the first half and the coach gives me the look that you're probably going to be done soon. Last year, I had the ability to talk him into a few more series," Hoff said.

That's among the reasons Linfield is excited for the playoffs. First, the competition is better, which ought to keep Hoff on the field for longer periods of time. Second, playoff opponents don't know Hoff like Northwest Conference teams. Maybe there's a chance they might not try every gimmick known to an offensive coordinator to slow down the Wildcats' elite pass rusher.

Hoff has shined during Linfield's past two postseasons. During the Wildcats' seven playoff games in 2013-14, Hoff has 8 1/2 sacks and 12 1/2 tackles for loss.

"That's when his numbers go crazy, because they don't all realize how good he is," Smith said.

Smith and defensive coordinator Jackson Vaughan penciled in Hoff as a defensive end from the outset of his Linfield career, though as a 200-pound freshman, he looked more like a linebacker.

Midway through his sophomore year, Hoff's speed began to overtake opposing offensive linemen. Last year as a junior, Hoff was a tour de force, racking up 27 1/2 tackles for loss and 16 sacks.

Hoff loves to win first and foremost, but as a defensive end, he likes those sack numbers, too. As they piled up a year ago, Hoff couldn't help but notice.

"I'd say last year I looked a lot more than this year. It was my first big year and a lot of it was real new to me. This year, I've been trying to stay away from it," Hoff said.

Hoff says he had never heard of Linfield until Steele began playing for the Wildcats. He attended a few games as a high school junior and senior, got the pitch from Smith, and decided to join his brother.

"It seemed like the right fit," Hoff said.

As for his football future, the NFL is usually a steep uphill climb for anyone in Division III, and that includes Hoff.

"He's a tweener body type," said Smith, "which is why we have him."

Hoff plans to give professional football a go until they say no. Smith thinks he would fit well as a pass rusher in a 3-4 defense. NFL scouts were on campus last spring to get his measurables and test his speed.

Hoff says he's been told he has the size of an NFL linebacker, but would need to upgrade his coverage skills. Hoff sees himself as a Clay Matthews-type defender.

"This offseason is going to have to be my hardest offseason ever. I do have aspirations and I'll do whatever I can to make it happen," Hoff said.

Coverage of Whitworth at Linfield NCAAD3 football 11/21/2015 playoff game in 11/24/2015 McMinnville N-R edition

Take down the jolly roger

By Robert Husseman, McMinnville N-R/News-Register 11/24/2015

Perhaps a thought should be spared in commendation for the Northwest Conference, the Siberia of NCAA Division III. Little-known and –understood, let alone seen, by the Eastern-oriented powers that be, the conference wrangled two bids for the D-III football playoffs out of the selection committee.

The at-large selection of Whitworth, then ranked No. 25 nationally by d3football.com, surely was a pleasant surprise to NWC officials. For Pirates coach Rod Sandberg, a member of the D-III selection committee, it would be a mixed blessing: Whitworth would tread familiar ground in facing No. 2 Linfield Saturday at Maxwell Field.

“They’re one of the best teams in the country and we want to be the best,” Sandberg said Saturday afternoon. “To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. To have an opportunity to play them twice I think was very beneficial for our program.”

Linfield had won the previous matchup, 52-10 on Oct. 24, outgaining the Pirates by over 300 yards and controlling the game from start to finish. Saturday at Maxwell Field would be different, but the outcome would feel eerily similar.

Whitworth received the ball for the game’s first drive and unveiled a facet rarely seen from a Linfield opponent: tempo. Three of the Pirates’ first six plays went for 10 yards or longer as Whitworth worked quickly to snap the ball.

“It’s something they show on film,” Wildcats defensive end Alex Hoff said. “We just practiced for that. We were ready for it.”

A miscommunication resulted in the Pirates calling a timeout at the 13-minute, 9-second mark of the first quarter. Whitworth quarterback Ian Kolste rushed for four yards on first down and threw two incomplete passes, leaving Rehn Reiley to kick a 44-yard field goal.

“For us, we are capable of executing against a team like that. When you make small mistakes, it’s just amplified against a team like that,” Kolste said.

It was a strong drive at the outset that petered out at the finish. Linfield responded with 31 straight points to close out the first half but made a rare mistake to open the third quarter. Wildcats punter Kevin McClean failed to corral a snap, eventually fumbling the ball. John Carroll would fall on it, but Whitworth would take over possession at the Wildcats’ 32-yard line.

The Pirates would not have better field position in the game.

“What we said at halftime too was, hey, we’re going to keep shooting,” Sandberg said.

Kolste found Chase Takaki on a 23-yard reception on fourth-and-9 to set up first and goal from the Linfield 8-yard line. Kolste, a sophomore from Oak Harbor, Washington, kept the ball on a pair of rushes for five yards and threw two incomplete passes.

The last, best scoring drive in the 48-10 Linfield victory had been snuffed out by the Wildcats.

“It was huge. Anytime you have your backs are against the wall and you’re playing on your side of the 50, it’s just a different feeling,” said Hoff, who finished with two tackles. “It’s good for us to get that experience going into the playoffs. We know we’re going to have those drives where they do cross our 50. We haven’t really been tested that much this year. Playing that and getting that experience is huge, I think, for everyone going into the playoffs.”

“We’re coming out and still expecting to obviously make it a game,” said Kolste. “For it to go the way it was was obviously a disappointment.”

Linfield emerged from the NWC rematch with its expected result, to the delight of the 1,518 in attendance. Whitworth (9-2) had put up more total yardage (293) than any opponent of the Wildcats this season and had exactly the same result as Linfield’s other competition to show for it.

“I don’t think anything’s surprising about what they did. It’s just how well they do it,” Sandberg said. “That’s what’s hard.”

Quietly, Eric Igbinoba has been one of Linfield’s many offensive standouts in 2015.

At 6-foot and 195 pounds, Igbinoba has the speed to pull away from NWC defensive backs and the vertical leap to challenge them on fade routes. 

The junior from Cheney, Washington, who grew up 23 miles from Whitworth’s campus, entered the D-III playoffs as the Wildcats’ third-leading receiver (16 catches, 320 yards, three touchdowns) behind Erick Douglas III and Spencer Payne.

What has held Igbinoba (pronounced ee-BIN-o-bah) back this season are his hands. Dropped passes have plagued him and occasionally stalled Linfield drives. In the second quarter against the Pirates, Igbinoba mistimed a jump for a Sam Riddle pass, which hit him in the chest.

“The one earlier in the game, right before half, it was right in the sun. Just lost it as soon as I saw it coming my way,” said Igbinoba. “Definitely, in practice (I’m) trying to focus, looking the ball all the way into my hands every time. Something I’m working on, and hopefully keep on improving with.

“Usually when we do like a special teams drill and I’m off, not involved in it, I’ll get one of the quarterbacks and another receiver and we just get some more catches in.”

Drops can lead to confidence issues, but those are averted with additional opportunities. Another pass is another opportunity to make a play.

And when called upon against the Pirates, Igbinoba flourished. All three of his receptions, 65 yards in total length, went for touchdowns. He beat defensive backs on routes and made the occasional tough grab; on a fourth-quarter pass, from nine yards out, Igbinoba leapt over a Whitworth defensive back to catch a Tom Knect fade pass.

“It was definitely exciting but I’ve really just got to thank the quarterbacks, and the line for protecting Sam out there and giving me the opportunity to go up and make a play,” Igbinoba said.

Igbinoba was not alone in his yeoman’s work. Sophomore Ryne Fuhrmark played capably in relief of normal left guard starter Stephen Nnabue (ankle injury). Safety Mikey Arkans shook off nagging injuries to break up three passes and intercept Kolste once (cornerback Dylan Lewis also intercepted a pass).

Linfield football is a team with star power. In the D-III playoffs, it may only go as far as its supporting cast can take it.

Fast facts

What: No. 25 SUNY-Cortland at No. 2 Linfield, NCAA Division III playoffs second round

When: Saturday, noon

Where: Maxwell Field, McMinnville

Radio: KPDQ AM 800; KSLC 90.3 FM

Streaming: Visit www.linfield.edu/sports and click on “Broadcasts” for a live stream

Tickets

Information courtesy of the Linfield athletic department:

All reserved seat ticket sales will be conducted through Linfield's online ticket portal, linfieldsports.universitytickets.com.

Season ticket holders have until Monday at 9 p.m. to confirm their seats. Season tickets not confirmed will then be made available for sale to the general public. Season ticket holders requesting to purchase additional reserved seats must wait until general public sales begin Wednesday at noon.

Reserved ticket sales for the general public, including Cortland State fans, begin Wednesday at noon at linfieldsports.universitytickets.com. Online sales conclude Friday at noon.

Reserved tickets for faculty, staff, students and retirees become available for purchase in the athletics office beginning between 8 and 10 a.m. Wednesday.

If you experience difficulty after attempting to purchase tickets through the online portal and need technical assistance, please call 503-883-2421 before 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Be prepared to leave contact information and a member of the staff will return your call as soon as is reasonably possible.

The ticket office is closed Thursday and Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday and no one will be available to take telephone calls or return messages.

All covered reserved seats are $15, uncovered reserved tickets are $12 and adult general admission is $10. General admission tickets are sold day of the game only. All tickets sold on the day of the game are on a cash-only basis.

General admission for students with a current college or high school ID card are priced at $5 and sold day of the game only. Children under 3 are admitted free.

No complimentary tickets will be issued and Northwest Conference passes will not be honored.

Once purchased, season ticket holders may pick up their tickets Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Wednesday in the athletics office. Tickets not picked up on Wednesday may then be picked up Saturday at the stadium ticket booth beginning at 10 a.m. Please bring a photo ID when picking up tickets.

Linfield 48, Whitworth 10

Sam Riddle threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns and Spencer Payne racked up 188 total yards as the Wildcats – ranked No. 2 by d3football.com – defeated the No. 25 Pirates Saturday afternoon before 1,518 at Maxwell Field.

Payne had 139 rushing yards on 25 carries and 49 yards on four receptions. Eric Igbinoba caught three touchdown passes, including one from Riddle as part of a 24-point second quarter that gave the Wildcats (10-0) a 31-3 halftime lead. Levi Altringer (nine yards) and John Carroll (12 yards) were also on the receiving end of Riddle’s touchdown passes; Riddle (15-of-24, 268 yards; 11 carries, 27 yards) scored Linfield’s first points on an 11-yard run in the first quarter.

As Ian Kolste went offensively, so did visiting Whitworth (9-2), the NWC runner-up to Linfield. The Pirates’ quarterback completed 29 of 52 passes for 175 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. Kolste also led Whitworth in rushing, with 68 yards on 17 carries.

Tavon Willis ran for 52 yards on six carries, and Brian Balsiger caught three passes for 61 yards to aid Linfield’s offensive effort.

Dylan Lewis and Mikey Arkans intercepted passes for the Wildcats, with Arkans also breaking up three passes. Skylor Elgarico had six unassisted tackles.

Whitworth linebacker Patch Kulp (seven tackles, one for loss) was his team’s leading tackler.

Linfield hosts No. 25 SUNY-Cortland Saturday, Nov. 28, at noon at Maxwell Field. The Red Dragons of Cortland, New York, enter with an 8-2 record, having claimed the championship of the New York-based Empire 8 Conference.

Linfield Belton-bound to play Texas' UMHB in 2014 NCAAD3 football playoffs

See bracket graphic from NCAA.com
http://on.ncaa.com/1bpge7F

UMHB Football site
http://bit.ly/1pcWTV7

Ooney Gagen ‘Linfield Football Gameday Weather Forecast’ exclusively on Wildcatville

NCAA D3 playoff football in Belton, Texas, Linfield at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor *UMHB)  noon, Central Standard Time, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014. That's 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Game site: Crusader Stadium on the UMHB campus. It's home to the Crusader athletic teams, also known as the "Cru."

Ooney’s exclusive weather forecast: "Weather in Belton ought to be mighty nice. Maybe overcast, but mostly sunny with temp close to 70."  

Bonus info:

--About 60 miles north of Austin, Texas state capital, Belton is in the 'heart of Texas among rolling plains, wooded hills, rivers and lakes,' says something Ooney found on the web.

--Linfield football history includes 2004 as reported in the Milwaukee, Wisc., Journal-Sentinel about Linfield vs. UMHB in Salem, Va.

http://bit.ly/1xnLobf

Chapman at Linfield NCAAD3 football playoff game 11/22/2014

SLIDESHOW OF GAME
 VIDEO LINFIELD FOOTBALL TEAM POST-GAME CHANT

Wildcats' first offensive play vs. Chapman honors Linfield's Parker Moore 11/22/2014

This photo and a cropped version taken by Wildcatville during Linfield's first offensive play in the 11/22/2014 Chapman at Linfield NCAAD3 football playoff game on Maxwell Field in McMinnville. Linfield #9 Kyle Chandler, Parker Moore's closest friend on the Linfield football team, runs "across the formation and off to the sideline with one finger extended in the air, leaving Linfield with 10 men for one play, as a gesture toward Moore," wrote Nick Daschel in the Oregonian. Both Chandler and Moore are linebackers on the Linfield roster.

Newspaper story about Linfield QB Sam Riddle

Linfield quarterback Sam Riddle's long journey home

By Keith Sharon,  Oregonian 11/20/2014

Story ran in 11/26/2014 print editions of the Oregonian and the Oregonian-owned Hillsboro Argus

The airplane bound for Grand Forks, N.D., rattled and jerked, and the teenager looking out the window could see the snow, like his life, had gone sideways.

When he and his dad got in the rental car, it was minus-5 degrees outside. They drove about 15 miles per hour on an icy and lonesome highway toward the University of North Dakota -- any faster would have surely caused a spin-out in blizzard conditions.

It was January 2013.

"What am I doing?" the 17-year-old thought to himself.

A few months earlier, Sam Riddle had been a hotshot Century High School quarterback with a secret, one that would surely get him banished from the football team and kicked out of school. If you would have asked him then, Sam would have told you the secret he carried would ruin his life.

Sam knew what would happen in Grand Forks that weekend. He would be offered a scholarship and the football coach would ask him for a verbal commitment to attend the University of North Dakota for the next four years.

"I can't do this," Sam thought.

Sam struggled for a way to tell the coach, and his father, what he really wanted to do.

He wanted to stay home.

So when the moment came, when the coach smiled and offered Sam a chance to fulfill his lifelong dream to play Division I college football, when his dad looked more proud than he had ever been, Sam was sweating.

He knew what he needed to say. He knew he needed tell everyone no, stop, I don't want to do this.

But this is what he said ...

"OK, I'll accept."

That decision to leave his family and move from Hillsboro to Grand Forks to play football wasn't the most difficult, but it would prove the worst of Sam Riddle's rapidly spiraling life.

In high school, he had met a girl and fallen in love. She became pregnant. And that weekend in Grand Forks, he had decided to leave that girl and his as-yet-unborn son behind.

On a recent Tuesday, Sam Riddle, now 19 ("A 30-year-old in a 19-year-old's body," he said), sat in a Starbucks at Linfield College talking about his fight to get home, about the notebook pages on which he printed "Adoption" vs. "Parenting," about the whispers that stung him, and about the friends who supported him when he was at his lowest. He talked about disappointing his dad and what it's like to play quarterback when you've already endured more drama than a television reality show.

He talked about Briahnna, the girl who made his jaw drop when he first saw her.

And he talked about a little boy in North Plains, Oregon, who knows how to say "tickle" and the best word Sam Riddle has ever heard.

"Daddy."

• • •

She was a transfer student from Southridge High.

Briahnna Krokum took a seat in Sam Riddle's Spanish class at Century, and he was speechless.

At the time, she thought her future would include beauty school, or real estate sales or marketing -- in other words, she didn't know.

This is what Bri thought when she sat down in Spanish class: Why is that cute guy glaring at me?

When they got to know each other, they flirted a little, but each was dating someone else. She was a junior and played on the basketball team. He was the sophomore star of the football team.

In three years, Sam would lead Century to 3-8, 6-4 and 8-3 records, turning around a program that hadn't had much success.

"I was kind of The Guy when it came to sports at school," Sam said.

A year passed before Sam and Bri became an item. She drove him home from Buffalo Wild Wings after a basketball game, and he asked her if he could call her his girlfriend.

She said yes.

When Sam was a senior, Bri enrolled at Portland Community College. "She was like part of the family," Sam said. "We were just a couple of kids having fun."

On the football field, his senior year started great. His team was undefeated heading into the game against Glencoe, which is Century's bitter rival.

On the Sunday before the big game, Sam was at Bri's house when she — after a couple of nervous weeks — took a pregnancy test.

She showed him the results, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. The pluses and colors and dashes, in his mind, said not pregnant.

But, of course, he was a high school boy with no experience reading pregnancy tests. He had read hers wrong.

She was pregnant.

"I almost passed out," Sam said. "I thought about not graduating from high school, not graduating from college, working at a minimum wage job the rest of my life. I thought of the worst — I am going to be the joke of the school."

(Sam's fears, by the way, did not come true. He continued in school and on the football team. There are no official penalties for being a teen father.)

"I thought my life was over," Bri said. "This is a train wreck."

They had become a statistic, a cautionary tale and they were keenly aware of how difficult their lives were about to become. According to the office of U.S. Health and Human Services, there are 57 pregnancies for every 1,000 teenage girls (2010 statistics).

"I was in total shock," Bri said. She went to a clinic for another test to make sure, then another doctor's office to make triple sure.

They made two decisions right away. First, she was going to have the baby. Neither of them is particularly religious or political, but they didn't feel like abortion was the right choice for them.

Second, they would only tell Sam's best friend, Brad Bennett.

"You guys can do this," Brad said.

• • •

Bri was pregnant, and Sam had a secret growing inside him.

His football team crushed Glencoe, but over the next three weeks he played two of the worst games of his life. When basketball season started, Sam wasn't any better. Bri wore loose sweaters to his games, but rumors started to spread.

"I was depressed at school," Sam said. "People started looking at me like I was an alien."

Sam and Bri put together a notebook with one page labeled "Adoption" and another labeled "Parenting." They wrote down the pros and cons of giving away and keeping the baby.

After passing the first trimester, they decided to tell their parents. Bri's family was "devastated, scared and disappointed," she said.

Sam told his mother first because he feared what his dad would say. His mother didn't take it well. She implored him to tell his father.

Sam waited until Thanksgiving Day. He went into his dad's room and closed the door. When he finally heard the news, Dave Riddle gave his son a hug as an offer of support.

"Things happen," Dave said.

Dave Riddle has been a physical education teacher for more than three decades. He thought, at the time, he knew how to talk to kids. His first bit of advice to his son was reassuring. "We're going to be OK," Dave said. "We're going to work through this together."

But the more Dave thought about it, the more he wanted his son to pursue a college scholarship than he wanted him to be a teenage dad. Dave knew he didn't have the money to pay for his son's college education. He thought a football scholarship would be the only option if Sam wanted a degree.

Believing his son couldn't juggle football, academics and being a father, Dave suggested abortion as the best option for the young couple.

"We were pushing in that direction," Dave said. "I wrestled with it a lot."

The breaking of the news was merely the first step along a road of uncomfortable family discussions about Bri's pregnancy. Parents, being parents, had a lot of advice. And so did grandparents and extended family and friends and anybody else who heard about the quarterback with the kid on the way.

Secretly, Sam and Bri had already decided she would keep the baby, and they would raise him together.

But their relatives wanted to meet. Everyone pledged their support no matter what the young couple decided. But ...

"We were getting swarmed by opinions," Sam said. "Everyone was pushing adoption or abortion."

"We knew we had such a strong relationship," Bri said. "We knew we could make it."

Decisions are tough, but carrying that baby to term was tougher on Bri.

She was in the hospital "five to seven times" with kidney infections and "cholestasis," a pregnancy disorder in which digestive fluid does not flow properly from the liver.

Sam worried that cholestasis could cause the baby to arrive stillborn. (Although evidence linking stillbirths to the disorder is not clear.)

In the end, his worst fears didn't come true.

Mason Riddle was born May 28, 2013, at 2:22 p.m.

"I cut the cord, and I watched the whole thing," Sam said. "It was the best moment of my life."

Suddenly, Sam's life changed drastically. He quickly found out what it's like to be up all night mixing formula and trying to get Mason fed. For the last month of his senior year, he went to school bleary-eyed.

And the birth had triggered something in the people around him. They stopped being critical. They stopped having opinions about what the young couple should do.

Dave Riddle questions why he ever suggested abortion.

"When I spend time with Mason," the new grandfather said, "I'm almost ashamed of myself. I have changed a lot. I've come to appreciate Sam's handling of the situation."

Relatives and friends chipped in to help with day care, allowing Sam to get a job working as a cook/dishwasher at Duke's BBQ Pit. Bri eventually became a receptionist.

They were like a young married couple, juggling school, jobs and a kid.

But they weren't married.

On July 25, 2013 — Bri's birthday — Sam took her to Paradise Nails. A week earlier Sam, an old-fashioned guy at heart, had asked Bri's father for permission to marry his daughter. Sam was given a ring that had been in Bri's family for years.

That ring was hidden at the nail salon.

In the middle of Bri's manicure, Sam said he got on one knee and the manicurist slipped the ring on Bri's finger. Bri's memory isn't as clear. She laughed when she said she doesn't remember Sam getting on his knee.

She said yes.

• • •

Three days after he proposed, Sam was more depressed than he had ever been.

He had committed to play football at the University of North Dakota, and it was time to go.

On July 28, 2013, he said goodbye to his fiancée and 2-month-old son.

"Having to say goodbye to Mason was the hardest thing I've ever done," Sam said.

Bri said she'd been crying "for three whole weeks" before Sam left. Her last words to him were: "Just go."

"I know," Bri said, "he didn't want to leave. I didn't want him to give up an opportunity."

Before his first week at his new school was done, Sam Riddle had called Linfield College, which was about a 40-minute drive from where Bri and Mason were living with her grandparents.

Linfield, a Division III school that does not offer athletic scholarships, was where Sam had gone to football camps as a young quarterback.

"I told Linfield there's no way I'm going to be able to stay (at North Dakota)," Sam said. "I'm coming home. I don't know how. I don't know when. But I'm coming home."

Sam took classes and went to football practice. But his heart was already in Oregon.

Dave Riddle tried to persuade his son to stay in North Dakota. "I wasn't getting where he was coming from," Dave said. "I just didn't get it. I was thinking of his future. I was financially motivated."

Sam called his dad and said, "There's no way you can stop me."

Before he finished a month at UND, Sam used money he had earned at the BBQ Pit and bought a train ticket home.

He called a meeting with UND head coach Chris Mussman, who knew Sam was struggling.

When Sam walked into the coach's office, a form sat on the table in front of him. Once he signed it, his scholarship would be revoked.

"That was the low point of our relationship," Dave Riddle said.

Sam Riddle signed the form, leaving him one last thing to do in North Dakota.

Get on that train.

He could not have known at the time how perfect Linfield would be. He would get financial grants and aid, and a campus job in maintenance, to help pay for college. He would be the starting quarterback before the third game of his sophomore year.

He would be living on campus during the week and have a short ride to Bri's grandparents' house to join his family on weekends.

His dad would look at him differently. "What I'm most proud of is how he stepped up as a man," Dave said.

He couldn't have known as he sat on that train how he would make Bri feel. "I get goosebumps watching him play," she said. "It warms my hear to have Mason on my lap saying 'Daddy, Daddy.'"

Bri was crying before Sam got home. She was there at the train station with Mason, just the two of them.

Sam saw the sign as the train pulled to a stop. "Welcome home Daddy."

Mason's hand print was on the sign.

It was painted cardinal and purple — Linfield Wildcats colors.

Sam Riddle was finally home.

Note:

--Wildcatville made one edit to this story. Linfield colors changed from "red and purple" to cardinal and purple.    

--A link to the U.S. public domain map, which Wildcatville edited to include Hillsboro, Ore., and Grand Forks, N.D.,  is here.

McMinnville N-R 11/21/2014 edition coverage about Linfield Football, death of player Parker Moore

Link to McMinnville N-R 11/21/2014 coverage http://bit.ly/1xA91Bo

Photo below taken by Wildcatville on 11/20/2014.

Linfield 11/20/2014 celebration of life for Parker Moore

Celebration of life service started at 7 o'clock in the evening Thursday 11/20/2014 on the Linfield College McMinnville, Ore., campus in Ted Wilson Gym in the college's athletic/PE building  campus next to the Coach Paul Durham statue.  The "We Love U" decal and wristband are related to Linfield Football, but not directly related to the service. Wildcatville photos.

What a tragedy it was to lose him.

Wildcatville attended the celebration of life service for Parker Moore the evening of 11/20/2014 on the Linfield campus in Ted Wilson Gym.

"Take aways" from the event are that Parker:

--was like a brother. He was caring, hard-working and often went beyond his comfort zone and friends to reach out to others to be helpful.

--loved sports and football, but he was more than "just" an athlete. He had faith. He loved his family.

--worked hard at all his did ... academics ... football ... being a Linfield dorm resident assistant.

He loved life.

Many of us did not know him. Now we do. What a tragedy it was to lose him.

Links to Salem, Ore., Statesman-Journal photos/Parker Moore

Link to photos by Anna Reed, Salem, Ore., Statesman-Journal, of  11/20/2014 Parker Moore celebration of life service on the Linfield campus.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/picture-gallery/news/crime/2014/11/20/parker-moore-memorial-at-linfield-college/70039812

Photos from 11/16/2014

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/media/cinematic/gallery/19145581

Tears for Parker #35 Linfield

Music: 'Lament,' John Etheridge, classical guitarist

Posted 11/19/2014

Linfield football shutout (goose eggs) wins

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 --   

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