According to ESPN.com, Linfield was involved in one of college football’s greatest games of the 2019 season.
It was No. 83 on ESPN’s list, to be exact, and it was the Wildcats’ final game of the year — the 68-65 triple-overtime loss at Chapman in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Need a refresher? The teams combined for 1,107 yards of offense, Linfield trailed by one at halftime and a 26-yard field goal by Andrew Starkel ’21 in the third overtime proved to be the (untimely) difference.
Here’s ESPN.com’s Bill Connelly’s take: “With a spot in the second round of the Division III playoffs on the line, Chapman and Linfield threw haymakers for 60-plus minutes. Chapman led 21-7 early, Linfield responded with a 27-7 run to take the lead, and then Chapman went on another 21-7 run to take the lead back with a minute remaining. But Artie Johnson ’21’s 12-yard run with 4 seconds left for the Wildcats sent the game to overtime, and after the teams traded scores, Linfield had to settle for a field goal in the fourth OT period. That opened the door for Tanner Mendoza’s 13-yard winner for the Panthers.”
The Wildcats finished with an 8-2 record, extending “The Streak” to 64 years.
