Linfield undone by turnovers as St. Thomas advances to
DIII championship, 38-17
By Brian Hall, special to Oregonian
12/12/2015 electronic, 12/13/2015 print
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Linfield's
prominence among the top Division III football teams was secure before the
Wildcats' meeting with St. Thomas (Minn.) on Saturday 12/12/2015 in the national
semifinals.
Linfield owns one Division III title
and was playing Saturday in its second straight semifinals. Becoming one of the
truly elite teams is proving to be yet another step.
St. Thomas rolled up 389 rushing
yards and the Wildcats committed five turnovers in Saturday's 38-17 loss. The
Tommies advanced to face Mount Union, which beat two-time defending champion
Wisconsin-Whitewater 36-6 earlier Saturday, in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl next
week in Salem, Virginia.
Only three teams in Division III
have advanced to the championship game since Linfield won the title in 2004.
"I'd say excellence,"
Wildcats coach Joe Smith said of his program's development. "It's a steep
hill to climb. The elite in Division III are elite for a reason. Really, out of
245 teams, that there's seven or eight that I think actually have the ability
to play in a semifinal type format. We're very proud to be one of those teams.
If anything, I think we just realize that we have to get better."
Linfield (12-1) rallied for two
fourth-quarter touchdowns behind quarterback Sam Riddle, but could only get as
close as 13 points as St. Thomas earned their second trip to the title game in
four years.
Riddle came off the bench to finish
15-of-24 passing for 173 yards and two touchdowns to Spencer Payne and Erick
Douglas. Payne had a team-high 59 rushing yards.
Linfield started Tom Knecht at
quarterback with Riddle dealing with an ankle injury. Knecht was 14 of 28 for
117 passing yards and two interceptions. Smith called Riddle "80
percent."
"I thought before the game I
felt the best I had in two weeks," Riddle said. "I knew I wasn't 100
percent. I respected coach Smith and coach (Aaron) Boehme's decision on starting Tom.
Tom's a great quarterback. It sucks. It sucks that we're sitting here and we're
done in this room. This ankle, it happens in this sport."
Knecht had led Linfield to a
come-from-behind win the previous week with 492 passing yards and five
touchdowns. Both quarterbacks were also undone by several drops by receivers
and the Wildcats had to shift their offensive focus after an early deficit.
The second-ranked Wildcats trailed
20-0 less than 12 minutes into the game as Knecht lost a fumble and threw an
interception within the first three drives.
"The way the game started was
horrendous for us," Smith said. "It wasn't how we scripted it.
Certainly got to feel like we were not ready to play; I take all the blame for
that. We did not come out ready to meet their physical prowess of what St.
Thomas did."
The physical approach for St. Thomas
was running behind a big offensive line with running back Jordan Roberts, who
tallied 256 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries.
"That's something that no one's
done to us to that extent that I can remember," Smith said. "We were
close a bunch. Had a couple of those been touchdowns, I think it changes the
nature of the game. But their ability to pound the football and wear the clock
down and move the chains was admirable today."
Linfield was making its seventh
consecutive postseason appearance. The team's seniors finished with a 45-5
record over the past four seasons.
::::::::::::
Linfield
undone by turnovers as St. Thomas advances to DIII championship, 38-17
By Special to The Oregonian
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on December 12, 2015 at 7:03 PM, updated December 12, 2015 at 10:47 PM
Follow on Twitter
on December 12, 2015 at 7:03 PM, updated December 12, 2015 at 10:47 PM
-- Brian Hall, Special to The
Oregonian/OregonLive
By BRIAN HALL — Dec. 12, 2015 8:59 PM EST
St. Thomas advances to Division III championship
BY BRIAN HALL Associated Press
DECEMBER
12, 2015
St. Thomas advances to Division III championship
