' Reloading and Firing' Young gridiron squad one shot short of national playoff berth Football experts called il a
"
rebuildi ng
"
BUI coach Frosty Weslering
year for PLU.
claimed his young learn was really
"
reloading
and firing." and indeed, the lutes fell JUSt
on c shot short of a fourth straight nip to the
national playoffs. On a chilly day in McMinnville, Oregon. bitter rival Linfield cndt'd PLU's SC3s<m . 277.
Forty three hundred frigid fans at 2500-
seat Maxwell Field watched as the unbe�llen
Wildcats used that Lute uademark . the "Big Play .
"
The Lutes lurned the ball over six limes, including . twice the first three limes they touched il. Linfield converted three of the miscues into scores . and PLU 's offel1�c never
really got going
.
It was a strange season for the 1982 tC11m. which had only six seniors.
A defense that
rClUrned on ly four slarlers was supposed to be a weak link, yet it endcd up
(arryi n8
the load
for the highly-t outed spuHcring offense, ,
At the outset , everyone hitd a good time as the Varsity stopped the Alumni. 28- 1 2 , in the annual Alumni football game.
The Lutes had another romp in their season
opener,
handing Western Wa shington
seventeenth straight loss
,
39-7.
its
PLLI quar
terback Kevin Skogen completed his first
twelve passes
.
Skogen was on
larget
again
against
Southern Oregon, throwing three touchdown pa�ses to Curt Rodin in a 7 III minute span.
PLU won 28-6, fordngsix turnovers.
Then came the Shootout at the O.T,
(Oregon Tech) Corral.
In sunny Klamath Falls, the Owls broke
away from a 2 1 - 2 1 halflime deadlock and bombed the L ut es. 45-27.
It was the mOSt
points any team had scored against PLU in six years,
But turnabout is fair play .
PLLI had been
rated fifth nationally before the Tceh disaster.
'76 hI! Spo'"