McKay Graduate Trevor Scharer Passes For Career High as Linfield Beats Southern Oregon

Linfield held the Raiders to 85 yards rushing, outgaining the visitors in total yards, 551-342.

Photo courtesy: Linfield College

McMINNVILLE - Linfield junior quarterback, and McKay High School graduate Trevor Scharer passed for a career-high 443 yards and five touchdowns to power No. 18 Linfield to a 37-29 nonconference victory over Southern Oregon Saturday night at Maxwell Field. Five different receivers caught touchdowns from Scharer, who became one of only five Linfield quarterbacks to throw for more than 400 yards.

Linfield (3-2) led for most of three quarters, but had to fend off a second-half surge by the Raiders (2-4) to pull out the home-field victory.

A 7-yard touchdown catch by Tyler Kaluza from Scharer gave Linfield an early 7-0 lead. But the Raiders pulled even with 1:23 left in the half, marching 90 yards following a punt. Kevin Holtzman scored on a 27-yard reception from Casey Mitchell.

With time in the half ticking down, Linfield answered quickly. Scharer eluded pressure and found a wide-open Tyson Banker for a 30-yard touchdown. Linfield led 14-7 at the break while nearly doubling the Raiders’ yardage total, 257-135. Scharer completed 20 of 32 attempts for 194 yards in the half while Mitchell was 6 of 14 for 104 yards.

The Raiders kept within striking distance early in the third. Mitchell scrambled two yards for a touchdown with five minutes gone in the quarter. When Steve Palmer’s extra point hit the left upright and bounced away, Linfield clung to a 14-13 advantage.

With SOU breathing down the Wildcats’ neck, Scharer tossed his third TD pass of the game, hooking up with Jared Thomas for a 40-yard score.

The Raiders looked ready to score again, marching to the Linfield 29 after a successful fake punt. Back-to-back tackles for loss spotted the ball at the Linfield 35 and Palmer lined up for a field goal attempt. The ball hit the left upright again, but this time the ball bounced between the posts, narrowing the Wildcats’ margin to 21-16.

A 47-yard punt by Stan Fisher pinned the Raiders at their own 1. Two plays later, Linfield added to its lead with a safety when Keone Tawata and Brian Mehl trapped Shane Van Zant in the end zone.

After getting the ball back on the free kick, the Wildcats needed just three plays to make it 30-16 as Scharer hit Josh Vierra on a 12-yard scoring slant.

Southern wouldn’t quit, moving 73 yards to paydirt on Van Sant’s 3-yard run off right tackle. Andrew Woods blocked the extra point and the Wildcats led by eight, 30-22.

Scharer gave the Wildcats some breathing room with 3:27 to go as John Torsey raced 50 yards for his first career touchdown reception. But SOU responded with Mitchell’s 16-yard TD toss to Tim Greenidge with 1:58 left to play. Linfield recovered the subsequent onside kick and ran the clock out from there.

Mitchell finished with 257 yards passing, completing 18 of 29 attempts. Van Zant was the game’s leading rusher with 82 yards on 20 carries.

Banker caught a season-high six passes for 95 yards, Kaluza had six receptions for 50 yards, and Thomas finished with four grabs for 72 yards. Vierra and Travis Master also had four catches each.

NEXT: Linfield returns to Northwest Conference play Saturday when the Wildcats venture to Sparks Stadium in Puyallup, Wash., to take on rival Pacific Lutheran. The Wildcats are looking to extend their series win streak against the Lutes to five games. Kickoff is set for 1:30 PM.

‘CAT SCRATCH: Entering the game, Masters was ranked second in NCAA Division III kickoff return statistics. His 39.3 average trails only Menlo’s Jihad Mahasin’s 39.4. As a team, the Wildcats lead the nation in kickoff return average at 35.25. . . Saturday’s Family Weekend attendance was 2,858. . . Linfield now needs to win two of its remaining four games to clinch consecutive winning season No. 51. . . Scharer’s 443 passing yards is the eighth-highest passing total in Linfield history. . .the Wildcats stretched their series win streak over the Raiders to five.

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