PSU and LInfield hooked back up for a 7-on-7 match-up.
McMinnville newspaper (news-register) ran the story:
http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=238212
Published: July 24, 2008
By IVAN MILLER
Of the News-Register
Football was in the air at Linfield's Maxwell Field on Wednesday afternoon; literally. The Wildcat football team hosted Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) Portland State University in a highly competitive game of 7-on-7. After shocking PSU 12-7 two weeks ago, Linfield fell 11-9 in the rematch.
Cornerback Bubba Lemon led the defense with five knockdowns and an interception. Wide receivers John Torsey, Chris Slezak and Gunnar Cederberg each scored touchdowns for the Wildcats, while junior quarterback Aaron Boehme orchestrated the offense.
The rules of 7-on-7 are simple: a team scores a point for every defensive stop, touchdown or interception. Each team starts at its own 35-yard line and must advance at least 10 yards every four downs for a first down. Each team has seven players, basically the skilled position players minus lineman. A one-handed touch is ruled a tackle.
"The first matchup was really competitive," Lemon said. "We came out and surprised them. They did not expect us to beat them. Our defense was really confusing them.
"Today, we saw what it's going to take to be successful."
Both teams battled back and forth to start the game, but Linfield took an early 2-1 advantage thanks to Lemon, who batted a pass back to the middle of the field where senior rover Nick Hill laid out for the ball, securing the interception.
Two possessions later, Boehme hooked up on a 30-yard slant to Cederberg. Then Linfield's quarterback hit Slezak on a 12-yard comeback up the right sideline. Boehme finished the six-play drive with a fade to Slezak in the corner of the end zone, tying the game at 3.
"There's a saying, 'There's no defense for a perfectly thrown ball,'" Torsey said. "Boehme was putting the ball on the mark today, especially on the fade routes - placing the ball where only we could get it."
However, PSU's 6-foot-1, 235-pound middle linebacker, team captain Andy Schantz, played catalyst to a stop during Linfield's next series, and the Wildcats fell behind, 6-3.
"My whole thing is building identity," Schantz said. "I want a hard-nosed squad that's going to come out and hit our opponent in the nose. My job is to make sure my guys stay fired up.
"This was just hard work. We don't see very many high-powered offenses like Linfield's."
Boehme responded by marching the offense back up the field, connecting twice with Torsey, who shook off two defenders and darted past a few more. Cederberg went airborne two plays later for the touchdown, leaping three feet into the air over a pair of defenders.
"John Torsey and Gunnar Cederberg are a little bit under the radar right now, but they are going to be good," Lemon said. "Torsey is going to be the main guy. The real surprise has been my little brother, Mychal - he's been finding a way to get it done. We needed playmakers, and that's what these guys are doing."
Boehme added, "A lot of people might not think we have weapons at the wide receiver position, but our guys proved that theory wrong today. Torsey is a speedster on the outside and Cederberg is a monster in the middle. And Mychal Lemon has really shown improvement.
"I won't be surprised if we go very deep in the playoffs because of our offensive weapons. And we have a heck of an offensive line coming back."
Lemon led a late rally, knocking down two balls to stop one drive and intercepting another.
Torsey then left his defender behind, racing up the sideline for a 40-plus-yard score, tying the game at eight.
"It was important to come out and compete with these guys," Cederberg said. "They're all under scholarship at PSU. For a Division III school, we hung in there. This gave us a big confidence boost."
In the end, Linfield came up just short. After the game, Boehme addressed Linfield's performance.
"We played well," he said. "That's going to be the most physical defense we see all year. They get up in your face and fight. We need to keep building on this performance.
"We never thought we'd lose the game. We worked through our schemes and kept fighting."
Lemon agreed, "We didn't lose this game. It's a learning situation. We didn't get blown out - we were right there.
"We're a young team. For us to come together like we did against Portland State means everything in the world."
The Wildcats definitely earned PSU's respect.
"We have mad respect for Linfield; they have a lot of talent," Schantz said. "We wanted to come down and give a good look, because they got us at our place. Hopefully they have a great year."
McMinnville newspaper (news-register) ran the story:
http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=238212
Published: July 24, 2008
By IVAN MILLER
Of the News-Register
Football was in the air at Linfield's Maxwell Field on Wednesday afternoon; literally. The Wildcat football team hosted Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) Portland State University in a highly competitive game of 7-on-7. After shocking PSU 12-7 two weeks ago, Linfield fell 11-9 in the rematch.
Cornerback Bubba Lemon led the defense with five knockdowns and an interception. Wide receivers John Torsey, Chris Slezak and Gunnar Cederberg each scored touchdowns for the Wildcats, while junior quarterback Aaron Boehme orchestrated the offense.
The rules of 7-on-7 are simple: a team scores a point for every defensive stop, touchdown or interception. Each team starts at its own 35-yard line and must advance at least 10 yards every four downs for a first down. Each team has seven players, basically the skilled position players minus lineman. A one-handed touch is ruled a tackle.
"The first matchup was really competitive," Lemon said. "We came out and surprised them. They did not expect us to beat them. Our defense was really confusing them.
"Today, we saw what it's going to take to be successful."
Both teams battled back and forth to start the game, but Linfield took an early 2-1 advantage thanks to Lemon, who batted a pass back to the middle of the field where senior rover Nick Hill laid out for the ball, securing the interception.
Two possessions later, Boehme hooked up on a 30-yard slant to Cederberg. Then Linfield's quarterback hit Slezak on a 12-yard comeback up the right sideline. Boehme finished the six-play drive with a fade to Slezak in the corner of the end zone, tying the game at 3.
"There's a saying, 'There's no defense for a perfectly thrown ball,'" Torsey said. "Boehme was putting the ball on the mark today, especially on the fade routes - placing the ball where only we could get it."
However, PSU's 6-foot-1, 235-pound middle linebacker, team captain Andy Schantz, played catalyst to a stop during Linfield's next series, and the Wildcats fell behind, 6-3.
"My whole thing is building identity," Schantz said. "I want a hard-nosed squad that's going to come out and hit our opponent in the nose. My job is to make sure my guys stay fired up.
"This was just hard work. We don't see very many high-powered offenses like Linfield's."
Boehme responded by marching the offense back up the field, connecting twice with Torsey, who shook off two defenders and darted past a few more. Cederberg went airborne two plays later for the touchdown, leaping three feet into the air over a pair of defenders.
"John Torsey and Gunnar Cederberg are a little bit under the radar right now, but they are going to be good," Lemon said. "Torsey is going to be the main guy. The real surprise has been my little brother, Mychal - he's been finding a way to get it done. We needed playmakers, and that's what these guys are doing."
Boehme added, "A lot of people might not think we have weapons at the wide receiver position, but our guys proved that theory wrong today. Torsey is a speedster on the outside and Cederberg is a monster in the middle. And Mychal Lemon has really shown improvement.
"I won't be surprised if we go very deep in the playoffs because of our offensive weapons. And we have a heck of an offensive line coming back."
Lemon led a late rally, knocking down two balls to stop one drive and intercepting another.
Torsey then left his defender behind, racing up the sideline for a 40-plus-yard score, tying the game at eight.
"It was important to come out and compete with these guys," Cederberg said. "They're all under scholarship at PSU. For a Division III school, we hung in there. This gave us a big confidence boost."
In the end, Linfield came up just short. After the game, Boehme addressed Linfield's performance.
"We played well," he said. "That's going to be the most physical defense we see all year. They get up in your face and fight. We need to keep building on this performance.
"We never thought we'd lose the game. We worked through our schemes and kept fighting."
Lemon agreed, "We didn't lose this game. It's a learning situation. We didn't get blown out - we were right there.
"We're a young team. For us to come together like we did against Portland State means everything in the world."
The Wildcats definitely earned PSU's respect.
"We have mad respect for Linfield; they have a lot of talent," Schantz said. "We wanted to come down and give a good look, because they got us at our place. Hopefully they have a great year."
