Monday, November 28, 2022

Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) @ Linfield (Ore.) 11/19/2022 NCAAD3 Football playoffs first round.

Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) @ Linfield (Ore.) 11/19/2022 NCAAD3 Football playoffs first round.
Linfield won, 51-24



Friday, November 25, 2022

BETHEL FOOTBALL 2022 PREVIEW: No. 13 Bethel Travels West for Second Round Matchup at No. 5 Linfield

BETHEL FOOTBALL PREVIEW: No. 13 Bethel Travels West for Second Round Matchup at No. 5 Linfield

#13/20 Bethel Royals (0-2, 7-1 MIAC) at #5 Linfield Wildcats (10-0, 7-0 NWC)

 Date/Time Saturday, Nov. 26 | 2 p.m. CST // Noon PST

Location McMinnville, Ore. (Maxwell Field)

Tickets BUY ONLINE • General Public $15 • Senior Citizen • $5 • Youth & Children $5

Live Stream Linfield Sports Network

Live Stats golinfieldwildcats.com/sidearmstats/football/summary

Bethel Game Notes (PDF)

Linfield GoLinfieldWildcats.com

NCAA NCAA Playoff Bracket | Digital Program

Social Media Twitter | Gameday Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

KICKOFF COVERAGE

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The No. 13th ranked Royals hit the road again, this time out west to McMinnville, Ore. where they face unbeaten and No. 5 Linfield in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs. Bethel (9-2) is coming after a gutsy 34-32 victory over Wheaton, never trailing in its opening round game. The Wildcats (10-0) pulled away Pomona-Pitzer in the fourth quarter, 51-24.

The winner of Saturday's game advances to the quarterfinal and takes on the winner of No. 3 Mary Hardin-Baylor and No. 6 Trinity (TX).

SERIES HISTORY

Series: First all-time Meeting:

Bethel will be making its first-ever trip to Oregon in its matchup with Linfield. Against the Northwest Conference the Royals are 2-2 all-time splitting wins with Pacific Lutheran and Whitworth.

Video: COACH’S CORNER

Steve Johnson, Bethel head football coach, interviewed by Austin Lagesse, Bethel director of athletic communications. Link to YouTube-posted video:

https://youtu.be/megfw5AzAXE

 

ROYAL NOTES

• BU is making back-to-back appearances into the postseason for the fourth time in program history. It's the second straight season that the Royals received one of the five at large bids. Last season the Royals received an at-large bid traveling down to Central (IA) where they were defeated 61-35.
 
• The Royals are 12-10 all-time in the postseason follow last Saturday's victory. In second round games they are 4-1. The last time the Royals reached the second round was 2018 where they knocked off #9 North Central 27-24 on the road.
 
• Freshman RB David Geebli recorded his first 100-yard rushing game at Wheaton going for 102 yards on 15 carries with a TD run.
 
• Junior RB Bryce Kunkle's two TD game in the first round was his second multi-touchdown game the season, the other coming at Augsburg, and fourth of his career. He did so on 21 carries rushing for 66 yards.
 
• Freshman DB Devin Williams has his first official INT of the season returning the pick six 44 yards on the first play of the second half. Earlier in the season against Augsburg, Williams picked off the Auggies potential game-winning two point conversion returning it 100 yards for the two-point score.

BY THE NUMBERS
7 – sacks allowed by the offensive line which ranks as the 10th fewest nationally at .7 a game.
 
11 – postseason appearances, all which have come since 2000.

42 – consecutive weeks the Royals have been ranked in the D3football.com Top 25 polls. Second longest behind a 57-week streak from 2010 to 2014.

KEEPING IT CLOSE
• BU's 34-32 victory over Wheaton was the fifth game this year for the Royals that was decided by seven or less points, tying the most in a single-season since 2012. In four of those the margin was by a field goal or less where BU is 3-1 in those games. Since 2000, the Royals are 37-25 in games decided by seven or less points.

ROSTE, WILLIAMS HEADLINE MIAC POSTSEASON AWARDS
• Senior quarterback Jaran Roste was named the MIAC Football Offensive Player of the Year while becoming a four-time All-MIAC honoree. Freshman defensive back Devin Williams also headlined the awards being named the inaugural MIAC Football Rookie of the Year.
• Roste is the first Royal with a major honor since quarterback Erik Peterson in 2013. A dynamic quarterback, the Alexandria, Minn. native threw for 2,018 yards with a MIAC-leading 69.7 completion percentage (152-218-6) during the regular season. He threw for 16 touchdowns while averaging 224.2 yards a game in the air. The other side of the dual threat was his 356 rushing yards on 48 carries. His MIAC leading 7.4 yards per carry paced him to four rushing touchdowns. Roste also becomes just the 11th player in MIAC history to be a four-time All-MIAC honoree. Roste has also been named a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy
• Williams has played a key role in the Bethel secondary appearing in nine games and collecting 30 tackles, 23 of which were solo. He added six pass breakups and one forced fumble. His biggest play of the year came against Augsburg picking off the Auggies potential game-winning two-point conversion returning it 100 yards for the two-point score. The Fridley, Minn. native also earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors.

NO. 1 IS NUMBER 1
Jaran Roste became the Royals all-time passing leader following a 186-yard performance against St. Olaf. His now 8,571 career yards surpassed Scott Kirchoff and moved him fifth all-time in the MIAC. He is also the all-time leader with 44 rushing touchdowns, tied for sixth all-time in the MIAC, and 10,972 yards of total offense.
• A career-best performance of 423 yards, the second most in a single-game, on 34-of-39 passing yards, one completion shy of tying the single-game record, came against Hamline on October 8.
 
TO SERVER AND PROTECT…THE QB
• The offensive line has been a brick wall protecting quarterbacks Jaran Roste and George Bolt. BU ranks 8th nationally and lead the MIAC allowing less than a sack a game. The Royals have only allowed seven sacks all season and in six games have not allowed one.

WE'RE IN GOOD HANDS
• A core group of wide receivers has been a good compliment to QB Jaran Roste. Six different Royals have caught a TD pass this season, all of whom are sophomores.
• Joey Kidder leads the squad with eight touchdown grabs doing so on 49 catches for 834 yards. He averages 17 yards a catch and 75.8 yards a game.
Micah Niewald has tallied 945 yards, ranking 16th nationally, on 71 catches with seven TDs. Niewald is looking to join a crew of three other receivers that have totaled at least 1,000 yards receiving since 2001. Those receivers include teammate Joey Kidder (1,078 yards in 2021), Mitch Hallstrom (program record 1,328 yards in 2013) and Joel Olson (1,225 yards in 2001).

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• Linfield comes in undefeated at 10-0 and have gone a combined 21-1 over the last two seasons. At home since 2011 the Wildcats are 60-2. They do the most damage in the first half outscoring opponents 125-36 in the first quarter and 127-23 in the second. They rank 4th nationally in third down conversion at 55.1 percent while they have the best third down defense with opponents only converting at 20.1 percent. They are third in rushing defense only allowing 46.2 yard a game.
• Junior linebacker Blake Rybar was named the NWC Defensive Player of the Year. He had 58 tackles and 3.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Quarterback Blake Eaton is 18th nationally in passing efficiency and 11th with 31 passing TDs.

ROYAL IN THE MEDIA

D3football.com feature story - Freshmen cracking Bethel lineup

https://d3football.com/playoffs/2022/breaking-into-bethel-lineup

Players Mentioned

#7 George Bolt  QB 6' 2" Junior

#2 Joey Kidder  WR 6' 3" Sophomore

#47 Bryce Kunkle  RB 5' 11" Junior

#15 Micah Niewald  WR 5' 10" Sophomore

#1 Jaran Roste  QB 6' 4" Senior

#28 David Geebli RB 5' 7" Freshman

#27 Devin Williams  DB 6' 1" Freshman


Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Linfield prepares to play Bethel Royals of Minnesota in second round battle on Maxwell Field

 


Linfield prepares to play Bethel Royals of Minnesota in second round battle on Maxwell Field

 Story by Dylan Wilhelm. Photo (from Linfield at L&C game in 2022 season) by Rusty Rae. McMinnville N-R/News-Register 11/25/2022

 For the first time in the programs’ history, the undefeated Linfield Wildcats and the Bethel Royals of Arden Hills, Minnesota will meet on the gridiron in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs on Saturday. Bethel (9-2) won a tightly-contested game versus Wheaton (Ill.) in the first round. While the Royals led wire-to-wire, Wheaton had the chance to tie after a touchdown with just over three minutes left.

The two-point conversion fell incomplete, however, allowing Bethel to run out the clock on the next drive to cap off the 34-32 victory.

Out of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Bethel is coached by Steve Johnson, who is in his 33rd year leading the Royals. With 243 career wins and four elite eight appearances, including one in 2018.

Johnson and the Royals are no stranger to the postseason spotlight.

The Royals are led by quarterback Jaran Roste, who has accounted for more than 2,500 yards and 21 touchdowns through the air and on the ground. The Royal running game has been consistent through- out the season, led by Bryce Kunkle and David Geebli. As a team, the Royals have gained 156.2 yards per game on the ground.

The Wildcats have been able to slow down opposing rushers all season, allowing the third-fewest rushing yards per game at 46.2.

Not only will the ground game present a problem for the Linfield front, the highly-touted Bethel offensive line will make it difficult for the Wildcats to generate pressure on the quarterback.

While Linfield ranks best in the nation with 42 sacks, Bethel is tied for eight-fewest sacks allowed per game, having allowed just seven in its 11 games.

In an interview with Linfield play-by-play broad caster Joe Stuart, Linfield coach Joseph Smith dis-cussed how Bethel’s run game has put the offensive line in position to succeed by preventing unfavorable third- and-long situations.

“It’s sure hard to pass protect when it’s third and 12 as opposed to third and three,” Smith told Stuart. “I think stopping the run will be really important to generating pass rush because it changes the scenarios.”

The Linfield offense will look to build off of a strong fourth quarter in last week’s51-24 win over Pomona-Pitzer, one where they scored 24 points to pull away from a gritty Sagehen team.

Kickoff at Maxwell Field is set for noon on Saturday. Ticket information can be found on the Linfield Athletics website atgolinfieldwildcats.com. The school also says there will be a “healthy supply” of general admission tickets at the tick- et booth on Saturday.

Live video and coverage will be provided online on the Linfield Sports Network as well as on KRCW-32, with coverage starting at 11:30 a.m., according to the university.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Below for your info from Wildcatville about Bethel’s quarterback … from Alexandria, Minnesota, he is Jaran Roste, 6-foot-4 and 220- pounds.

“Jaran is the son of Jeff and Lucy Roste and graduated from Alexandria Area High School in Alexandria, MN. While in high school, Jaran was a Mr. Football Finalist, All-State, All-Conference, All-Section, a DECA International Finalist, and Academic All-State. His best performance was when he scored a hat trick in a club soccer scrimmage. At Bethel, Jaran is majoring in Business Accounting & Finance and Political Science.”

 

At Bethel, quarterback Jaran Roste found everything he was looking for

 After leaving the U of Minnesota, he followed his sisters’ footsteps and found a school where he wanted ‘to do life’

 By Michael Lyne, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. Nov 26, 2021·

 Jaran Roste transferred to Bethel University in 2018 after spending one year playing Division I football at the University of Minnesota.

At the time of the transfer, he had no idea what kind of an impact the decision would have on his playing career. More important, he had no idea how it would transform his life off the field.

"If you look at who I came in as that first year in 2018 and the person I am now, it's an entirely different person," Roste said.

The Alexandria (Minnesota) native had his eyes set on Bethel ever since he left the Gophers because he saw more opportunities for him to grow, as a football player and as a human being. That's how Roste transformed at the university, through his experiences off the field.

"If you are choosing a school for one specific reason, and if that reason goes away, in the case with the U, if football goes away, what else do you have?" Roste said. "I looked at Bethel as a school that I didn't only just want to play football at, but wanted to do life at."

For Roste, deciding to transfer to Bethel, a Division III program in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, was a no-brainer even though he received offers from other Division I and Division II programs for football. His first campus visit was at the school and his two older sisters, Jazmin and Jana, attended Bethel from 2013-17 and 2015-19, respectively.

Roste enrolled at Bethel with a double major in business and political science, and accounting and finance, but his life off the field would quickly transform as he decided to switch his second major, accounting and finance, to social studies education 5-12.

When he arrived at Bethel, Roste began working with the university's BUILD program, to which he currently dedicates as many as 60 hours a week. The two-year program helps prepare students with intellectual disabilities to live independently while allowing them to have a safe college experience. As he worked with BUILD as a mentor, Roste's interest in education began to peak. He helps students with their homework and study skills, and devotes his time as a reading partner to students more than six months behind grade-level reading.

Outside of the BUILD program, Roste volunteers much of his time to various organizations, such as the Special Olympics, the Salvation Army and Feed My Starving Children. This fall, Allstate, in collaboration with the American Football Coaches Association named Roste to their "Good Works Team," which honors 22 football players across the nation for their commitment to community service and their "good works" off the field. He is the ninth-consecutive athlete from Bethel to receive the honor.

"Obviously, it feels really good," Roste said. "I'm really blessed to be a part of a select group of student-athletes who had the opportunity to be selected for this award. I always say that just because you get a good reward for doing good works doesn't mean you stop doing good works, so I'm excited to continue making a difference in the community."

Roste also happens to be one heck of a football player. In May 2021, Roste completed his two undergraduate degrees but was granted an extra year of eligibility to play football from the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A dual-treat quarterback, Roste led Bethel to an 8-3 record that ended Nov. 20 with a 61-35 loss to Central College (Iowa) in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

In his 11 games this season, Roste completed 65 percent of his passes for a career-high 2,631 yards and 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He also ran for 103 times for 455 yards and 13 touchdowns, helping Bethel score on 39 touchdowns of their 46 red zone attempts.

"Football comes and goes," Roste said before his final game. "There are very few people that go on to play football after college, so I'm just going to cherish these last couple moments."

With the football season over, Roste will continue working toward a master's degree in K-12 education with a special education concentration, which he had planned to do whether he played football this season or not. In August, BUILD approached Roste with the opportunity for him to take on a full-time position as interim residential supervisor after the program's residential supervisor went on maternity leave,

"It's been phenomenal, unbelievably rewarding," he said. "I've gotten to work with some incredible students and staff within the BUILD program."

While Roste is unsure about which population he wants to work with after school, he knows that he can make a positive impact in his community regardless.

"Anyone can make a difference by simply just bringing a positive attitude," Roste said. "You can make a difference in someone's day, week, or year. Secondly, you can learn from anyone. I've learned more from students in BUILD than I think I've learned from anyone else in terms of how they approach their day-to-day life and how they choose to love and care for others. It's inspiring. It's a way I aspire to live my life."

#

 


Friday, November 18, 2022

A Linfield connection in Tempe


 

A Linfield connection in Tempe 

Text below edited by Wildcatville to include only Linfield version of Bill Oram’s sports column in the Nov. 18, 2022, Oregonian. Photos from Linfield and ASU websites.

I made a phone call to McMinnville on Thursday. Ad Rutschman picked up the on the fourth ring. “We get a lot of scam calls,” he said. “I usually don’t pick up if I don’t know the number.” Rutschman is 91. The coach retired from Linfield in 1991 with a 183-48-3 record and three small school national championships. He’s been enshrined in three halls of fame, including the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

But even 31 years after retiring, his legacy resonates in college football. It will be present on Saturday in Tempe when Oregon State faces Arizona State.

The Sun Devils interim head coach, Shaun Aguano, was a Linfield running back from 1988-91 before going on to a long career coaching high school football in Arizona.

“Just a very solid player,” Rutschman recalled.

Joe Smith, the current Linfield coach and a former teammate of Aguano’s, described him as a bruising running back who loved to box.

“Shaun just wanted to run right over the top of you,” Smith said, “and had a tremendous warrior spirit about him. I think that’s a big part of the reason he’s been such a successful coach everywhere he’s been.”

The Beavers are favored by 7.5 points against Arizona State. The season has been a struggle for the Sun Devils, who fired Herm Edwards in September and dumped the mess in the hands of Aguano, a longtime high school football coach in the state who joined Edwards’ staff in 2019.

While the Sun Devils are just 3-7 on the season, they earned a signature win over Washington, then ranked 15th in the country, on Oct. 8.

Rutschman said Aguano is the 20th former Linfield player or coach to become a head college football coach, an ever-expanding coaching tree that includes former Oregon State coach Mike Riley.

Linfield players have gone on to coach teams to high school championships in “six or seven states,” Rutschman said, including the three Aguano won at Chandler High School in Arizona.

In October, the Arizona Football Coaches Association sent a letter of support to ASU advocating that Aguano get the job permanently, saying “he has the backing of every single football coach in the state of Arizona.”

“One hundred percent that is basically the kind of person that I saw when he was here at Linfield,” Rutschman said. “Just a quality human being that was a hard worker.”

“It’s been a lot of fun and to see these guys continue to have success,” he said.

Rutschman admitted he and Aguano have lost touch over the decades. He hasn’t wanted to interrupt by reaching out during the season, but hopes to connect with him soon.

“I did send him Christmas cards, but every year the Christmas cards came back because I didn’t have the right address, evidently,” he said.

Neither Rutschman nor Smith will be able to watch Aguano take on the Beavers. They will be busy with Linfield’s first-round playoff game against Pomona-Pitzer at Maxwell Field.

Because even at 91, Rutschman is still coaching. “I coach the kickoff return team,” he said, chuckling.

Smith said he has tried to watch ASU games when he can this season so he can support his old buddy, but he keeps running into a relatable obstacle.

“I’ve tried to,” he said. “It’s so hard to find them. It’s hard sometimes to get that Pac-12 Network.”

#

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Football ‘Cats pounce Pios: Linfield racks up 669 yards, records seven sacks in 70-7 blowout Nov. 12, 2022, at L&C in Portland




‘Cats pounce Pios: Linfield racks up 669 yards, records seven sacks in 70-7 blowout

By Dylan Wilhelm, McMinnville N-R/News-Register electronic edition 11/16/2022. Photos by N-R’s Rusty Rae. Minor edits by Wildcatville

Utter dominance is an understatement.

Linfield put up 669 yards of total offense and recorded eight sacks in a 70-7 thrashing of Lewis & Clark at Griswold Stadium on Sat., Nov. 12, 2022.

Linfield will now prepare for the first round of the postseason, where it will be host of 8-2 Pomona-Pitzer (California) at Maxwell Field on Sat., Nov. 19, 2022 in the first round.

Connor McNabb rushed for a career-high 182 yards and two touchdowns, part of 455 Wildcat rushing yards.

Lewis & Clark came out swinging big, as Cruz Montana found Sean Bodi for a 41-yard strike on third down on the first drive of the game.

Approaching field goal range, the Pioneers looked poised to take an early lead, but Travis Swanson knocked the ball loose on his first sack of the game three plays later, and Linfield recovered.

The strip-sack was a sign of things to come for a dominant Linfield front seven, a unit that put pressure on the quarterback all day. They recorded seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss, holding the Pioneers to just 218 total yards of offense.

Defensive coordinator Jackson Vaughan credited the experience of the front seven, a group that includes five fifth-year seniors.

“They’ve all played so much,” Vaughan said. “They are just so good and so experienced; they’ve given us an advantage over almost anybody we’ve played this year.”

Two plays after the Swanson strip, Connor McNabb avoided three defenders near the line of scrimmage and broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run to give the Cats the lead.

L&C got another deep shot on the following drive, as a well-executed flea-flicker resulted in a 45 yard pass from Montana to Devon Guest.

Montana found Guest in the end zone later in the drive to tie the game at seven.

On the first play of the next Linfield possession, Auzzie Ankai jumped in front of a Blake Eaton pass near the sideline to give the Pioneers possession.

The Linfield defense then flipped a switch, forcing six straight three-and-outs.

“You’re hoping you don’t fall for the trick,” Vaughan said. “After that, the guys kind of settled in… we were obviously pretty good the rest of the game.”

A combination of long returns and a tipped punt gave the Linfield offense excellent field position, and the ‘Cats were able to capitalize, scoring four straight touchdowns to take a 35-7 lead.

Both kickers took turns hitting the posts, as Linfield’s Gavin Dalziel hit the right upright from 45 yards out and Lewis & Clark’s Alex Koga hit the crossbar from 50 yards out.

Heading into the half, it appeared that Dalziel would get another kick.

With eight seconds remaining in the half and on the brink of Dalziel’s range, coach Joseph Smith opted to run one more play to try and get closer.

McNabb ran the ball towards the sideline, but burst upfield when he saw a gap in the secondary.

A Pioneer defender was able to push him out of bounds at the nine to prevent the touchdown, and it looked like there was one second on the clock, enough time for a field goal attempt.

Instead, the clock wound to triple zeros, and the Pioneers began heading to the locker room.

The referees got together to discuss the play, and at one point the clock operator added a second back onto the clock, eliciting confusion from everyone in the stadium.

Ultimately, to Smith’s displeasure, it was ruled that the clock had run out, and the Wildcats were not able to tack on to their lead.

The Linfield explosion continued in the third quarter, as the Wildcats put up 35 points, highlighted by a 40-yard run by Aaron Martinez and punctuated with a Johnny Miller pick-six.

The win caps off the 21st unbeaten regular season in program history. It also captured Linfield’s 31st outright Northwest Conference Title.

The team’s attention now turns to the playoffs, with Pomona-Pitzer coming to town.

Pomona-Pitzer has four common opponents with Linfield this season. The Sagehens defeated Willamette, lost to Pacific, and split two meetings with Redlands.

Should Linfield win, it will advance to the round of 16 to play the winner between Wheaton (Ill.) and Bethel (Minn.).

Kickoff at Maxwell Field is set for 12:05 p.m. on Saturday.

Early in the third quarter, L&C’s Jeremiah Bernal was on the field for a kickoff return. The play seemed like a routine kickoff return, but Bernal was down after the play, and it was quickly apparent that his injury was severe.

The game was delayed for about 20 minutes, as a hushed crowd watched as paramedics and medical staff from both teams helped put Bernal on a backboard and onto a stretcher, where he was then taken off the field and into a nearby ambulance.

As he left the field, he covered his face with his hands. Players and coaches on the Pioneer sideline were wiping away tears.

The two teams were then given three minutes to warm-up again before resuming play.

Vaughan described the raw emotions that players felt, and how difficult it is to get your mindset back on football.

“As a player, it kind of hits you because you know it could be you,” Vaughan said. “Everybody questions their own toughness/durability a little bit … everybody knows that it can happen at any time.”

It didn’t seem apparent that there was any talk of calling off the remainder of the game, although the question “how can you play after something like that” lingered.

As of press deadline, the News-Register has not received an update from the college on Bernal’s status.

#

Sunday, November 13, 2022

FOOTBALL: Linfield to play Pomona-Pitzer in NCAA's first round Sat., Nov. 19, 2022, on Maxwell Field at Memorial Stadium/Catdome


FOOTBALL: Linfield to play Pomona-Pitzer in NCAA's first round Sat., Nov. 19, 2022, on Maxwell Field at Memorial Stadium/Catdome

Info from Linfield Athletics 11/13/2022

Linfield University's Wildcats be host to Pomona-Pitzer on Sat. Nov. 19, 2022, in a first-round NCAA Division III playoff game at Maxwell Field in McMinnville.

 The full 32-team playoff field was announced Sunday afternoon by the NCAA. Linfield is one of 16 first-round playoff hosts. The winner will face the winner of another first-round game between Wheaton (Ill.) and Bethel (Minn.) on Nov. 26 at a site to be confirmed Sunday by the NCAA.

Kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m. PST. The Linfield Sports Network will provide live web steaming video play-by-play coverage with Joe Stuart and Gary McGarvie calling the action. The game will be simulcast throughout the Portland area on KRCW (32) television.

 The Northwest Conference champion Wildcats are making their third straight and 32nd overall national playoff appearance. It is also the 17th time that Linfield has qualified for postseason play since changing its affiliation from NAIA to NCAA in 1998. Linfield has an all-time national playoff record of 44-27 (.620). Linfield is of 12 unbeaten teams competing in this season's 32-team field.

 Linfield (9-0) is ranked No. 4 in both the American Football Coaches Association poll and D3football.com poll. Pomona-Pitzer is unranked.

 Though Pomona-Pitzer officially shared its first overall Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference championship with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Sagehens defeated the Stags 28-14 on Saturday to claim the program's first-ever NCAA playoff berth.

 Saturday's game marks the first meeting between the two Division III programs. Linfield owns an all-time record of 31-4 against SCIAC football teams.

 TICKETS:

Reserved seat playoff tickets, available online at linfieldsports.universitytickets.com go on sale incrementally as follows:

 Parents of current Linfield football players: Monday 8 a.m. until Tuesday 8 a.m.

 Linfield faculty and staff: Tuesday 8:01 a.m until Tuesday 8 p.m.

 Current Linfield season ticket holders: Tuesday 8:01 p.m. until Thursday 5 p.m.

 General public: Thursday 5:01 p.m.

 A healthy supply of general admission tickets will be on sale at the ticket booth on Saturday. Gates open at 10 a.m.

 PLEASE NOTE:

As this is an NCAA sanctioned event, every spectator must purchase a ticket for admission. Northwest Conference passes and sponsor passes will not be honored. Linfield students, faculty and staff are also expected to pay for admission.

 https://golinfieldwildcats.com/news/2022/11/13/football-linfield-to-host-pomona-pitzer-in-ncaas-first-round.aspx

INFO ABOUT POMONA-PITZER FOOTBALL

https://www.sagehens.com/sports/fball/program