McMINNVILLE – Linfield scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions to take a 28-0 halftime lead, and the second-ranked Wildcats defeated No. 13 Pacific Lutheran 42-21 in an NCAA Div. III Football Championships first round matchup Saturday afternoon at Maxwell Field.

Pacific Lutheran's season comes to an end with a postseason loss to Linfield for the second consecutive year, as the Lutes fall to 8-2. Linfield improves to 10-0 this season and will advance to the NCAA second round against Hampden-Sydney.

The Lutes out-gained the Wildcats 379-to-355 but turned the ball over three times, giving Linfield three scoring drives of 22 yards or fewer. Dalton Ritchey threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, and his 34 rushing yards led PLU on 17 attempts. Niko Madison rushed for 31 yards on eight carries and caught six passes for 70 yards, while Lucas Sontra broke out with four catches for 100 yards and three touchdowns.

Josh Yoder accounted for five touchdowns for Linfield, throwing for three and running for two more. Josh Hill finished with a game-high 68 rushing yards and scored a touchdown, and Charlie Poppen caught six passes for 100 yards and a score.

Jordan Patterson and Mychael Tuiasosopo led the PLU defensive effort in their final game with the Lutes. Patterson totaled 11 tackles, with 3.5 for loss, while intercepting one pass. Tuiasosopo tallied six tackles with 1.5 sacks. Dominique Forrest led Linfield with eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss, and recovered a fumble for the Wildcats.

Linfield took the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards in nine plays to stake an early lead. Yoder carried it in from seven yards out to put the Wildcats on the board. Just like in the Lutes' last two games against the Wildcats, turnovers struck a blow to give the hosts a short field when PLU fumbled the ball away on the first play of its second drive. That set Linfield up at the 12-yard line, and the Wildcats scored two plays later on another Yoder TD run.

The Wildcats' third touchdown drive took 10 plays to cover 73 yards. Yoder found Poppen in the end zone from 12 yards out to make it 21-0 with 11:26 to play in the second quarter. Linfield blocked the Lutes' punt on the next possession to set up the offense with another very short field at the PLU 22. Five plays later Yoder found Evan Peterson from six yards out to put the Wildcats up 28-0.

Pacific Lutheran's offense started showing signs of life on the next drive, as the Lutes drove 69 yards on 10 plays all the way down to the Linfield 11. Unfortunately for PLU, time ran out in the second quarter on that play, as the Lutes went into the locker room for halftime trailing by four touchdowns.

The third quarter started with a bang for the Lutes, as Ritchey hit Sontra about 15 yards downfield and Sontra broke numerous tackles and sauntered all the way to the Linfield 5-yard line for a 72-yard gain. Three plays later the Lutes faced fourth-and-goal from the 12 and Ritchey looked Sontra's way again, tossing it to the tight end on the left side for the score.

The PLU defense held Linfield to a long field goal attempt on the Wildcats' next drive, and Josh Repp's 47-yard attempt fell way short to give the Lutes the ball at their own 30. After interceptions by both teams and a turnover-on-downs by PLU, the Lute defense forced a Linfield punt to the PLU 14 late in the third quarter.

Ritchey led his offense 86 yards on 10 plays to make it a two-score game early in the fourth. The PLU QB went right back to his tight end on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, and Sontra pulled in the pass despite multiple Linfield defenders covering him. Linfield put to bed any hopes of a PLU comeback on its next two possessions, putting together a 76-yard touchdown drive and then intercepting a Ritchey pass and scoring from 20-yards out on the next play to go up 42-14.

The Lutes had one last push in the closing minutes. Ritchey hit Kyle Warner for a 59-yard completion on PLU's first play of the possession, and he followed on the next play with a 15-yard scoring pass to Sontra. PLU attempted an onside kick after that, but Linfield recovered the kick and ran the clock out on its 14th consecutive win against the Lutes.