FB: Northwest Conference

RedandPurple · October 21, 2007, 12:40:31 AM

It's 9:35 p.m. , Linfield Standard Time, and I'm in the lobby of the Vineyard Inn. It was a great homecoming game at the CATDOME. My thanks to tuxguy, GHC, and Mr. D for their hospitality. That was some mighty fine chowder and smoked salmon I ate before the game. Congratulations to the 'CATS coaches and players for a well deserved win. It was awesome to be back at the 'DOME.

Go Cats!

CalCat · October 21, 2007, 12:46:51 AM

Just got back from tne APU/Whitworth game and what a game it was. The APU QB was really good (Linfield quailty) and Anderson and the Whitworth o-line had a very good running game. APU is one of those NAIA( Southern Oregon) teams that tries to shoot themselves in the foot with penalties and turnovrers at the wrong time. The Whithworth DB's had no answer for the APU receivers and the QB. APU QB went out with an injury at 6:07 in the 3rd and didn't return until 6:00 in the 4th were he led them to the winning score. If Whitworth could throw the ball they would be a very different team.

Toivo70 · October 21, 2007, 01:04:37 AM

Sounds like a great game in Azusa....we didn't pull it out. Take a look at Azusa's last opponents.. D1AA.....D2 . Azusa is a very good team. Not so worried about our defense. Azusa has scored against everyone they've played. We will win vs. Willamette next week. That game still has to smart for you Linfield folk. Great win vs. PLU today.

downtown48 · October 21, 2007, 01:13:10 AM

Quote from: Toivo70 on October 21, 2007, 01:04:37 AM
Take a look at Azusa's last opponents.. D1AA.....

This has been visited before...just for the record...San Diego is 1AA in name only. They don't give scholarships and are no different than a D3 team. So don't trumpet that as a great win for Azusa...

Quote from: Toivo70 on October 21, 2007, 01:04:37 AM
We will win vs. Willamette next week. That game still has to smart for you Linfield folk. Great win vs. PLU today.

Two great things about this...

1) When you beat Willamette that will knock them out of the conference race with two two losses.
2) Us losing to Willamette will mean nothing because if we beat you we'll be in the playoffs and you won't...so I don't think we'll be "smarting" over that one after that...

Let's take care of Menlo first though...

Wildcat'64 · October 21, 2007, 01:16:06 AM

Just back from the post game celebrations about 10:00 Catdome time.....the Defense played great today and the score clearly reflects their efforts. Great job!

I certainly liked the looks of the "young Cats" in the 4th Quarter....kudo's to Manuel's son who carried the rock at the end of the game...Looks to me that he's going to be a tough kid to stop over the next three years...Manuel is going to be buying a few more airplane tickets to the Catdome.

Great game....but they are one at a time. Menlo will be waiting desperately in the wings next week.

speedybigboy · October 21, 2007, 01:25:49 AM

COngratulations on the win Linfield. Even though Dtrain had called me with the score I still logged on just now and read through the pages. Monrovia, good job on the play by play, I think it really gave me a good indication of how the Cats shut us down. Bad day of football for me as I just returned from watching my high school team lose the state final. But then, to paraphrase, a bad day of football is better than any day of soccer.

Linfield - Whitworth is shaping up to be a good one.

pineconefan · October 21, 2007, 01:38:12 AM

DT48 -

I think Toivo was referring to APU's game at Nicholls State (ranked 12th in the REAL I-AA poll) where they lost 30-28 in a true heartbreaker. And I did see that an undefeated San Diego team was nearly ranked in the top 25 of the real I-AA poll too.

downtown48 · October 21, 2007, 01:50:18 AM

got it...my apologies... $:-\$

So just the second part is valid...

bluenote · October 21, 2007, 02:03:49 AM

...so we get to play APU the next few years.....instead of a DIII opponent.

Should be a good tune up for the playoffs since it's an auto bid if we squash the rest of the nerds in conference.

RFB · October 21, 2007, 02:41:46 AM

Quote from: bluenote on October 21, 2007, 12:19:05 AM
Well...I was trying to give them some credit. I guess we lost to Willamette so we shouldn't jump the gun like you guys say.

MonroviaCat....I meant in the playoffs...do you think anybody in the SCIAC would beat Whitworth in the playoffs?

Yes, Redlands beat them in the opener and I'm confident they could do it again. I watched the whole game and their stud running back had 58 yards on 17 carries/2.8 average. Whitworth is a very good football team but give the SCIAC some credit they deserve.

(509)Rat · October 21, 2007, 02:42:13 AM

One problem tonight was the loss of 2 d-linemen in the first quarter (one Dt before the first defensive series even started). Whitworth could only run 3 man fronts, which limited the looks they could give APU, and in turn there wasn't much pressure put on a good QB. The good thing is, this loss doesn't matter. Win or Lose tonight, Whitworth (with the loss to Redlands) needs to go undefeated in NWC play. That means they need to beat Willamette, Linfield, and UPS in that order the next three weeks.

(509)Rat · October 21, 2007, 02:46:16 AM

RFB,
You may have seen the Redlands game but you haven't watched every game since...like many others on this board have. Whitworth's o-line is much improved since the Redlands game, pushing around a much bigger and possibly more talented APU D-line. But who really cares, we won't see another Redlands Whitworth matchup because Redlands won't make the playoffs. The NWC winner will most likely go down to Oxy and have to beat the SCIAC CHAMPION down there.

RFB · October 21, 2007, 03:04:04 AM

Quote from: (509)Rat on October 21, 2007, 02:46:16 AM
RFB,
You may have seen the Redlands game but you haven't watched every game since...like many others on this board have. Whitworth's o-line is much improved since the Redlands game, pushing around a much bigger and possibly more talented APU D-line. But who really cares, we won't see another Redlands Whitworth matchup because Redlands won't make the playoffs. The NWC winner will most likely go down to Oxy and have to beat the SCIAC CHAMPION down there.

Ok, and you don't think the Redlands defense that stuffed your Whitworth offense hasn't improved? Or the Redlands offense either? A question was asked if a SCIAC team could beat Whitworth in the playoffs. In my opinion that answer is yes.

MonroviaCat · October 21, 2007, 10:00:14 AM

Let the pissing match begin! I'm going to go on the record and say "YES, I think a SCIAC team could beat Whitworth in the playoffs". I also think that Whitworth could beat a SCIAC team in the playoffs. I really don't think that the top two in either conference are a shoe-in against the other this year. I have watched and/or listened to several of the Whitworth games and I will say they have improved quite a bit but so have Linfield, and I'm betting Redlands and Oxy as well. I believe that is why they play the games. As for a Redlands/Whitworth rematch, point is mute. I don't see Redlands and Whitworth matching up again this year. Oxy vs. Linifield or Whitworth and I think any of those teams can beat the other on a given day....

On another note---I think APU exposed how to beat whitworth last night---Cats are gonna have to give the QB time to throw and obviously stop the running game. Cawcdad--looking forward to your expert pregame analysis of the Menlo-Linfield game.

CalCat · October 21, 2007, 11:09:03 AM

Quote from: (509)Rat on October 21, 2007, 02:42:13 AM
One problem tonight was the loss of 2 d-linemen in the first quarter (one Dt before the first defensive series even started). Whitworth could only run 3 man fronts, which limited the looks they could give APU, and in turn there wasn't much pressure put on a good QB. The good thing is, this loss doesn't matter. Win or Lose tonight, Whitworth (with the loss to Redlands) needs to go undefeated in NWC play. That means they need to beat Willamette, Linfield, and UPS in that order the next three weeks.

509 Rat Whitworth's rush wasn't the problem the APU QB had very quick release and threw a lot of quick stuff in the flats and over the middle. APU receivers had a lot of YAC. Watching the game you got the feel the secondary from a defense prospective was Whitworth's problem last night.