Hall of Fame
The 1989 football team was coached by Mike Dunbar and tri-captained by John Bower, Scott Ditter, and Mike (Estes) Patton. The team made historic leaps recording a 10-1-1 overall record and finishing undefeated in the Columbia Football Association with a 5-0-1 record.Â
The Wildcats forged their way into the NAIA National Tournament defeating Lewis & Clark (Ore.) in the first round by a dominating 51-0 score, before defeating Dickinson State (N.D.) in the second round by a resounding 49-7 score. That set up a matchup with Westminster (Penn.) in the semifinals as the Wildcats would wind up falling by a 10-21 score in Puyallup, Wash. Westminster would go on to defeat Wisconsin-La Crosse in the championship by a 51-30 score.
The team included All-Americans Pat Patterson and (Estes) Patton, All-Academic Scholar Athletes Alan Kesti and Eric Granberg as well as current Hall of Fame members Kieth Baker, Eric Boles, Dunbar, Patterson, (Estes) Patton, and Marc Yonts.
