Jerry Jones Kansas Wesleyan Coyote Athletic Hall of Fame
After a 2-7-1 record in their previous year, the 1982 KWU football team was predicted to finish only in the middle of the pack. They proved the doubters wrong by winning their last seven games to finish 8-2 and tie Southwestern for the conference title with a KCAC mark of 7-1. The defensive unit paced the team early leading the conference in defense through the first eight games by not allowing a first half touchdown in that same stretch. They also held back two late 4th quarter two-point conversion attempts to preserve a pair of 1-point victories. The final two games the offense came through scoring 75 points including one point more than archrival Bethany, sparking a Salina Journal sportswriter to say the teams "...played some of the best darned football you'd ever want to see." That final game victory clinched the KCAC title making it the first championship in 11 years for the Coyotes and another gridiron championship wasn’t won until 2001.
