Camillo has interception, but Bearcats own turnovers costly in loss to Linfield

Salem, OR - Five turnovers, including two interceptions returned for touchdowns, spoiled Willamette Football's conference opener against Linfield University at Ogdah Field on Saturday as the Wildcats walked away with a 72-0 victory over the Bearcats.

The game started well for Willamette as they forced a Wildcat punt on the opening possession.  Then, with the Bearcats taking over at their own 20, Gabriel Herrera took the handoff from Alex Rivera IV on the first play and rushed 11 yards for a first down, followed by a quick 5-yard connection from Rivera IV to Elijah Romero.  The Willamette drive would stall from there and the home team was forced to punt.

The tide would turn as Linfield blocked the punt by Nick Beswick-Seidl and took over at the Willamette 26-yard line.  Five plays later, quarterback Luke McNabb found the endzone on a 3-yard run to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.  

On the next Bearcat possession, a Rivera IV pass to the right side was intercepted by Wildcat linebacker Blaze Holani and returned 29 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-0.  

Willamette would be forced to punt on their next possession after a three-and-out, with Linfield taking over on their own 35-yard line.  On the first play from scrimmage, running back Aaron Martinez would take the pitch from Blake Eaton and scamper around the edge and down the sideline for a 65-yard score and a 21-0 Wildcat advantage, their third score in just over three minutes.

The teams traded a series of possessions for the middle thirteen minutes of the first half until the Wildcats found the endzone again, this time through the air on a 32-yard pass from Eaton to Caleb Woodcock. This would start another scoring flurry by the Wildcats who would score twice more in the following three minutes, capped off by their second interception return for a touchdown on the day.

With just thirteen seconds left in the first half, Eaton would find Jacob Sifka from five yards out for the score and Linfield took a 48-0 lead into halftime.

The scoring continued for the Wildcats in the second half as Eaton found Woodcock again, this time for a 54-yard touchdown reception.  Another Bearcat turnover minutes later, a fumble by quarterback Pres Juarez on Willamette's own 12-yard line, resulted in one more Linfield score as McNabb scored his second rushing touchdown of the day.  

The Bearcats continued to fight and had their first good scoring opportunity as Chris Camillo intercepted a pass across the middle and returned it 21 yards to the Linfield 19 in the fourth quarter.  A catch and run by Gabriel Herrera would get the Bearcats to the Wildcat thirteen, but a Rivera IV pass to Trajan Clark was off-targe on fourth down and Linfield took over possession,

Willamette would move the ball again on its final possession, this time on a series of rushes by Jerrick Little and Joel Sanchez, but would again turn the ball over on downs and see the Wildcats run out the clock on the 72-0 victory.

Little led the Bearcats in rushing on the day with 52 yards on 16 carries, followed by Herrera with 41 yards on 9 carries.  It was a tough day through the air for Willamette as Alex Rivera IV and Pres Juarez combined to complete only 10 passes for 43 yards while throwing four total interceptions. 

Dominic Corado and Hogan Smith led the Bearcats in tackles with seven, with Smith also providing a sack.  La'Akea Like chipped in with six tackles and Chris Camillo recorded an interception.

Football will hit the road next weekend as they travel to Spokane, Washington, to take on Whitworth University.  Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.  The next home game for the Bearcats will be on Saturday, October 26th, when they host the Bruins of George Fox University.