Monday, October 28, 2013

‘Cats Win!!! Linfield goes on a Corps of Demolishing Expedition in win over Lewis & Clark.


It was all 'Cats, all day long against the Pios.
(Photo Courtesy of Brad Thompson: View Brad's 2013 Linfield Football photos here. )




Holy Smokes, that was a wild day in the ‘Catdome.  84 points, 87 players, 86 years.   Linfield broke its all-time single game points record by posting up 84 points against Lewis and Clark in a mammoth beating at the ‘Catdome.  The ‘Cats broke an 86 year old record  on a day when the program was celebrating the year when “The Streak's” architect, former head coach Paul Durham, would have celebrated his 100th birthday.  87 players for Linfield took part in the action on Saturday and overwhelmed a Lewis and Clark team that has played well at times against a tough schedule.

There are so many numbers and records that fell but I’ll let Cory get into some of the insane numbers the ‘Cats put up on the scoreboard and in the stat sheet tomorrow.  I’m going to give an overly simple explanation for why this happened on Saturday: Kickoff team pinned L&C deep, Linfield forced L&C’s quick paced offense off the field in short order, Linfield’s offense ran through the Pios like a hot knife through butter, put on repeat for the rest of the half.  I stood in the South End Zone for a minute looking at the scoreboard at the end of the first half and only one thought ran through my mind “Man, that was incredible.”.  Well, I was also trying to come up with a snarky tweet to put out as well but that was a forceful display of football for a program that consistently plays outstanding football.


Bottom line is that Linfield came out and played to their potential on Saturday against a team that physically overwhelmed by the talent, speed, and physicality that the ‘Cats possess.   I listen to D3football.com’s Around The Nation Podcast this morning (Linfield talks starts around the 25 minute mark) and I think Keith McMillen nailed it when he was talking about Linfield scoring that many points.  Essentially Keith said that Linfield wants to be known as a team wanting to win a National Championship and not trying to gain attention by breaking the 100 point mark and he’s exactly right.  The ‘Cats coaching staff handled that situation well by keeping the game on the group but still allowing their young men to play hard.   Linfield wasn’t trying to run up the score, no, any ‘Cat that stepped on that field on Saturday was being respectful to the game by playing the hardest they could for all 60 minutes.

Linfield Tight End, Wes Meng, and the 'Cats only had one thing on their mind this past Saturday.
 The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good

84 points:  When a team breaks a record that’s stood for 86 years in a program that’s one most historical in the country, you’re doing something right.

Defensive Pressure:  The fact that L&C came out in that modified A-11 look where they lined Keith Welch in the deep slot and had their back up QB in the shotgun was all you needed to know.  L&C knew they had no chance to handle the pressure so they tried to move the pocket with a gimmick formation but that didn’t long.  The ‘Cats only gave up 74 yards in that first half and did a great job in getting the ball back to the offense.

Special Teams:  GREAT cover day once again.  This group is going to be huge in the final 3 weeks and beyond.  If they can continue to kick well, block well, and cover well, the ‘Cats are going to be put in successful situations for the offense and defense.

Depth on display: I loved watching the depth of this team getting to get in competitive situations.  Linfield’s future is going to continue to shine brightly if these young players continue to follow the examples set up the older ‘Cats.

Team Enthusiasm:  Going up 70-0 at the half it would have been easy for the starting units to hang out on the benches and make dinner plans during the 2nd half but the ‘Cats weren’t having any of that.  The older players were loud and giving the young ‘Cats on the field all they could give in terms of energy.  It was one of the best things (in a list of many) that I saw on Saturday.  The older players were coaching up their teammates, celebrating their success, and enjoying every minute of it.  This is truly a great team in multiple aspects.

Bonus Good:

Former All-Conference Linfield football player Bob Haack addressed the team in celebration of Linfield Hall of Fame Coach Paul Durham’s 100th birthday before the game.  This was great.

 

Extra Good:

Not only does Linebacker Dom Forrest find the gaps in the offenses we face but "Domo" has a knack for finding the camera as well.




The Bad:

Nothing

The Ugly:

Nothing

catdomealumni's 2013 Lewis and Clark album on Photobucket

2 comments:

OldCatProf said...

What a great pregame message from Bob Haack!!!! A true giant in the best tradition of Linfield...in so many different ways. It made me prouder than ever to be a Wildcat fan.

MacQuiz said...

Ditto That!!!!
Just an outstanding reminder of what makes Linfield remarkable.
"Team, Excellence, Attitude, Class"