THE JOY AND SORROW OF PLAYOFFS: Linfield’s storied history features memorable postseason battles
By
Rusty Rae, McMinnville N-R/News-Register Nov. 20. 2020
Playoff football remains simple: win or go home. Qualifying
for the playoffs is somewhat more difficult.
In recent history, winning the Northwest Conference earned
the champion an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. However, in
years past, the selection process was fraught with intrigue and anxious
waiting.
Back in the 1960s, when the Wildcats made their first foray
into postseason play, there were only four teams selected to the playoffs. In
those National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) days, four teams
were chosen from more than 300 nationally. In the current DIII climate, 250
colleges and universities grapple for one of 32 spots in the national
championship tournament. Conference champions in 26 leagues earn automatic
bids, with the remaining six positions to at-large teams.
Numerous very talents teams stay home each year.
For Linfield, 2018 was one such experience.
The ‘Cats began the season slowly, dropping the non-counting
opener to Carroll College (an NAIA school), 21-14n and losing the conference
opener to Whitworth in Spokane, 19-14, three weeks later.
However, by season’s end, and behind a fierce offensive
line, the ‘Cats developed a vigorous run game balanced with deadly passing
attacks. Anchored by an impressive defense, this Wildcat bunch arguably
developed into the best team in the league.
And yet, when selection Sunday arrived they remained at
home.
“We were all gathered together for the selection show and
when we weren’t selected, there were 100 guys in dead silence. Seniors were
crying — it was a bitter pill to swallow”, said Linfield head coach Joseph
Smith.
Lucky for NWC champion Whitworth, too, which earned the
automatic bid. Had the two teams met in a first-round rematch, the Wildcats
would have keelhauled the Pirates.
Once you’re invited to the show, the key for success entails
following the normal season-long preparatory routine.
Before the digital age, this procedure required a swap of
films between the two teams. It wasn’t always a smooth or fair process. Hall of
Fame retired head Linfield coach Ad Rutschman painfully remembers a first-round
game against Texas Lutheran, a lopsided 52-8 loss for Linfield.
Rutschman’s first foray into the postseason was marred. The
‘Cats’ staff didn’t receive film until Wednesday; the recordings were all but
worthless in preparing for an unknown opponent. To top off the mismanaged film
swap, the game involved near gale-wind conditions.
One punt into the breeze, according to Rutschman, actually
was almost a safety, as the wind took it 35 yards behind the kicker. That led
to an easy Texas Lutheran score. In hindsight, Rutschman mused, “A safety would
have saved us five points.”
Since the turn of the century, the film exchange has become
as simple as downloading or streaming a movie – essentially what coaches do
these days.
Linfield head coach Joseph Smith said, “With technology what
it is these days, we get the film Sunday so playoff preparation is like a
normal week.”
Training for a known opponent is slightly easier; a
first-round game may be against a team you’re facing for the second time. In
the NAIA era, Linfield often met PLU in the first round of expanded playoffs,
with a bidding war often on which team would be favored with the home-field
advantage.
“Lately we’ve been playing teams in the first round we have
some familiarity with. Of course, when you’re playing a team for the second
time, there’s always a punch-counterpunch mentality you have to deal with,”
explained Smith.
Actual practices for playoffs are less physical and more
technically focused. “By the time we get to the playoffs, we just want everyone
to hold together. We’ll have a number of players who are nicked up to some
degree so we dial down the physicality of practice and focus on the schematics
of the game,” he added.
By this time in the season, players have worked three months
on fundamentals; Smith notes, “Technique mastery is a product of repetition; by
the time we’ve reached the playoffs we’re counting on that proficiency so we
can concentrate on schematics and situational learning.”
Linfield’s initial playoff was against Whittier in 1961, an
18-7 win propelling them into the Camellia Bowl two weeks later.
Pete Dengenis, a NWC all-conference selectee and member of
that team, said Linfield first had to dispatch Willamette, at the time a power
in the conference.
“Coach Durham (head coach Paul) told us ‘If you guys put me
in a position of tying for the conference title versus winning or losing the
conference, I’m going to play it safe.’ We weren’t going to put him in that
position,” he added.
Indeed, the ‘Cats bombed Willamette, 34-12.
Against Whittier, the Wildcats faced a team built around
speed and finesse. The Poets had a solid QB and a rangy, sure-handed receiver
who would go on to try out with the Chicago Bears.
However, with the game played on Linfield’s grass field, the
home advantage favored the ‘Cats. “The field was in a word, nasty,” recalled Dengenis.
“Whittier, from the Los Angeles area of California, was used to playing on
manicured fields, and the field and inclement weather negated their speed.”
In 1964, Linfield traveled to Fargo, North Dakota, to battle
Concordia of Minneapolis in what has become known as the Ice Bowl. Temperatures
began in the twenties and by halftime the mercury had plummeted to 12 degrees.
On that frozen field, Concordia played in tennis shoes while
Linfield’s cleats failed in the traction department, leading to a 28-6 loss.
In 1965, Linfield once again was selected for an
opening-round contest, this time against powerhouse Sul Ross State University
in a game played on the Lobos’ home field in Alpine, Texas. The ‘Cats, huge
underdogs, devised a formula and won, 30-27.
“I remember talking with Coach Durham sometime later at a
social event. He said they (Sul Ross) were better than we were at every
position, but added, ‘We had people like you who didn’t read the papers,’” said
Bob Ferguson, a middle guard and future all-American.
“On paper they were so much better — but that’s why you play
the game rather than compare stats,” Ferguson added.
His blocked PAT kept the game tied at 27. At the time, both
feet were required to be in bounds for a completed reception, as opposed to
today’s rule requiring only one foot. Ferguson remembers split end Dean Pade
practicing dragging both feet inbounds all season long.
“He was used sparingly during the season, but in our last
drive made a couple of great catches; that kept our drive alive and gave our
kicker Tim Kubli a shorter distance for the field goal,” Ferguson said.
Though there was a tie-breaking formula determined by a
number of game metrics, Kubli calmly booted the three-pointer with under two
minutes left and the defense sealed the win.
One side note: Pade’s mother was so excited by the win and
her son’s performance, she barged into the dressing room to give him a hug,
according to Ferguson, with players in various stages of undress. When
questioned about her locker room visit she causally noted, “Oh, I’ve seen it
all before.”
Smith has many memories of first-round playoff wins — and
some painful losses, too.
In 2000, the 20-17 OT loss to Central College of Iowa still
smarts, buried deep into to the recesses of his memory.
“I’ve totally blocked that game out – it’s a game that feels
like it was stolen from us,” he said.
Linfield earned a bye in the first stage of the 28-team
initial round, hosting Central. In a tightly fought defensive battle, the
contest featured two scores by each team, one in each half, ending in
regulation with the score frozen at 14.
In the first OT session, Linfield recorded a 34-yard Scott
Cannon field goal for 17-14 lead. When Iowa had its turn on offense, the
Linfield defense forced Iowa to attempt a tying field goal from 21 yards. It
was blocked, but in the ensuing melee of players and fans rushing the field,
assuming the game was over, the Iowa center picked up the loose ball and
shoveled it to fullback Joe Ritzert, who lumbered in for the score.
“We had the guy tackled and down and several players heard a
whistle – the game should have been over. There were 100 guys on the field, and
the officials kind of lost control of that last play,” he said.
Three years later, however, Linfield bested Redlands in a
contest that Wildcat running back Thomas Ford ran over, around, and through the
Bulldog defense, gaining 237 yards on 26 carries. This was a trap game for the
Wildcats, who in the first game of the season dropped Redlands by a 49-10
margin.
Linfield rolled to a 21-0 first-half lead, up 31-7 at the
9:49 mark of the fourth period. A pair of fumbles by Ford invited the Bulldogs
back into the contest. Redlands scored 16 seconds later, closing to within
eight points. With just over four minutes remaining, the ‘Cat defense stymied
the Bulldogs on three consecutive plays from the Linfield 21.
Ford atoned for his fumbles with a 40-yard sprint, shoving
Redlands back into its own territory. Linfield, playing conservatively, punted
the ball into the end zone and time finally ran out for Redlands.
Smith also recalled the Linfield 27-13 win over Hardin-Simmons
in 2017 as one of the team’s great playoff performances.
Linfield had traveled to Abilene, Texas, the previous year
for a 24-10 win. The Cowboys, ranked fifth in the final regular season poll,
were forced to go to McMinnville to play the ‘Cats, ranked number eight at the
time, thanks to being an at-large selection, since their conference winner was
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Though grateful for the home-field advantage, even Smith
thought Hardin-Simmons was dealt a poor hand by the NCAA.
The Wildcats had located their starting quarterback in
coach’s son, Wyatt, midseason when the freshman helped guide Linfield to a
16-10 OT win over Pacific Lutheran. By the time the playoffs arrived, Linfield
had developed into a dangerous football team with the ability to score on the
ground or in the air.
Linfield advanced to a 21-0 first-half lead against
Hardin-Simmons, after a pair of offensive scores, before Linfield safety Duke
Mackle essentially broke the ‘Boys’ back with a 53-yard interception for a score
and 11 seconds left in the first half.
Smith still remembers Linfield’s most recent game, a
momentous 68-65 triple overtime loss to Chapman College in the first round of
the 2019 season.
Played at Chapman Stadium in Orange, California, on a
typically SoCal sunny 75-degree day, the crowd required a calculator to keep
up. In regulation, the score was knotted at 48.
But it took three overtimes and an uncharacteristic
defensive blunder by the ‘Cats before Chapman emerged as the first round
winner.
Even so, Smith said,” With the many ups and downs and
massive flows, it was an enjoyable game to be involved in, even though we lost.
It was a momentous game we’ll remember for many years to come.”
Such is playoff football.
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