LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Sept. 19, 2009) – Whether you were a fan among the 1,400 spectators in the bleachers of Patterson Field or one of more than 500 people tuning into KADYtv.com's  live video-cast from afar, the Tigers and Wildcats surely gave you something exciting to watch. In a battle between No. 14 Linfield College and No. 21 Occidental College, the Wildcats from McMinnville, Ore. got the upper hand with a 31-27 come-from-behind win.

After a scoreless first quarter, in which each team showed its defensive strengths, Occidental's Aaron Stanton nabbed his third interception of the season, running back 28 yards. The Tigers got the offense started less than two minutes into the second quarter as senior quarterback Scott Saunders hit senior wide receiver Jordan Inabnit for a seven yard touchdown completion and Neil Martin capped off the play with his first of three PATs of the night.

Three minutes later Linfield countered that TD with one of their own as the Wildcats' QB Aaron Boehme connected with Trevor Patterson (five carries for 92 yards), who found an open hole in the middle of the field and ran for a 50-yard score. Occidental's defense quickly stepped back up, denying a two-point conversion attempt as junior Zac Perkins brought pressure and stopped the Linfield attempt at taking a lead.

Occidental put another seven on the board when senior Jason Haller rushed for a short gain, giving the Tigers a 14-6 lead at the break. Prior to that score the teams were forced to punt on four consecutive possessions, highlighted by a 58-yard boot off the foot of Occidental senior Alex Groh (who finished with three 50+ yard punts) that hit the pylon and went out-of-bounds at the Linfield 1-yard line. The Tigers defense held the Wildcats to just one yard on the drive.

Linfield, who won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, made good use of that decision, driving the ball 55 yards down the field to set up a 27-yard field goal by P.J. Sequeira, which was the only scoring in the third quarter. Again the defense stepped up for both teams and kept the game close.

Down the stretch, though, Linfield came to life. To close out the third quarter, Boehme completed 6-for-8 passes, adding a seventh to the drive as he put the Wildcats on top for the first time of the night. But, is came under pressure, as the Oxy defense hurried the 6-foot-5 junior a combined 13 times, 10 coming from the Tigers' defensive lineman Alex Wertheimer, although he was able to get off a pass to Patterson in the end zone.

The lead that Linfield produced, though was an advantage the purple and cardinal would not surrender as they quickly held Occidental to three plays, forcing another Groh punt. The Wildcats followed up with their second TD in as many possessions as Boehme scurried into the end zone on a QB keeper.

Occidental again countered when Haller rushed for his second score of the game, pulling the score to 24-21 with 6:12 to play in regulation.

With the defensive prowess of Josh Beck, who had a sack for a loss of three yards and an assist with Wertheimer, as well as the combination of Wertheimer pressuring the QB and Trace Wallace breaking up a pass attempt, the Tigers again had a chance to take a lead.

Saunders, who finished the game 22-for-37 had only one mistake, which landed in the hands of Linfield's Jaymin Jackson with 5:00 to play. The Wildcats pushed the score to 31-21 at that point as the interception set up LC's final score of the game, a 42-yard rushing TD.

The battle wasn't quite over yet as the Tigers continued to claw back. Under pressure Saunders found Jason Lehman through traffic as they connected for a 17-yard touchdown. The Linfield defense blocked the PAT. With one more chance and under two minutes to play, the Tigers attempted an onside kick, unsuccessfully, and were called offsides (one of numerous penalties that hurt Occidental tonight), allowing Linfield the opportunity to use the clock to its advantage, after earning a first down, holding on for the four-point win.

In the end Linfield came up with a few more defensive plays than the Tigers did in a well-fought scuffle between a pair of nationally ranked teams with storied football programs. Tonight was the first time the teams met in the regular season and the third time overall.

For the second straight game, senior Chris Washington spent most of the 2:55 minute game on the field, playing both sides of the ball as well as on special teams. He finished with a game-high eight passes for 121 yards with his longest a 32-yard catch. He had three returns (two kick, one punt) for a combined 35-yards while sophomore Jordan Washington had three returns for 43 yards, with his longest a 29-yard gain.

Doing the kicking tonight for Occidental was sophomore Connor Smith who put the ball deep in Linfield territory in each of his four chances. Groh punted seven times and placed the ball inside the 20-yard line twice.

Defensively, Beck had a solid game with 13 total tackles to go along with his sack and he added a QB hurry as well as 2.5 tackles for a loss. Jesse Fischer and Zac Perkins each had nine total tackles and Fischer was credited with a sack for a loss of five yards as well as a QB hurry. Wertheimer finished the night with eight total tackles to go along with his 10 QB hurries. Beck, Fischer, Wertheimer and Wallace, who saw limited playing time as he returned to the field following a pre-season injury, recorded four solo tackles apiece. Dillon Tucker and Kyle Spaulding finished with seven and six total tackles, respectively.

Occidental held the advantage through the air with 238 passing yards while Linfield held the advantage on the ground, racking up 191 rushing yards. The Tigers capitalized in the red zone tonight, going 4-for-4 while the Wildcats were 3-for-4. Evenly matched teams also shared possession closely, with Linfield holding a slight advantage (30:55).

Prior to tonight's game Occidental celebrated their annual Meet the Coaches event at the turn of the track and enjoyed performances by the cheerleaders and Drum Line.

During the game, Occidental broadcasters Craig Dunkin, Tim Walsh and Kevin Walsh teamed up with KADYtv.com and produced the most tuned-in-to broadcasts in the history of the company, with the exception of a high school football game that Wayne Gretzky was a commentator at. Also adding to the broadcast was the Executive Editor at D3sports.com, Pat Coleman, who was in attendance in Eagle Rock tonight. Fans from across the nation were excited to see the game in and will look forward to watching all Occidental home football games live this season.

Occidental (1-1) will have its second bye week of the season next weekend as they prepare for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener on Sat. Oct. 3 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps while Linfield (2-0) returns to the Northwest to play at Southern Oregon next weekend.