The Birth of a Dynasty: The Story of the 1979 Jenks HS Football Champions

By Joshua Taylor

The Jenks Trojan football program has won 18 state championships, 37 district titles, and has made an outstanding 29 state championship appearances. One of the greatest and most legendary high school football programs in the nation, the Jenks Trojans have cemented their place in high school football history, all while living by their long-time motto: tradition, pride, excellence.

From coaches like Allan Trimble and Perry Beaver to players like Ian Corwin and Rocky Calmus, Jenks has an extraordinary legacy that shows every time the Trojans take the field.

The program won their first state championship game in the Class 3A Division, and have won a staggering 15 championships in 6A since moving to the division in 1992, the most in Oklahoma 6A History.

However, Jenks has not always been the powerhouse that they are today. In fact, the program went nearly 50 years without even appearing in a state championship game, which they first achieved in 1961, when they faced Lawton Douglass in a 29-0 shutout loss.

It was not until 1979, a year where bell bottoms ruled, the McDonald’s Happy Meal was the latest craze, the band played the Stars Wars theme at every game, and the Sony Walkman became the first mobile music player, that history was made and the Jenks Trojan football dynasty was born.

The Team That Started It All

In 1978, the 11-3 Trojans had lost in the 3A state championship against Duncan in a 32-19 loss, finishing as state runner-up. However, Head Coach Perry Beaver, a third year coach who would go on to become one of the winningest coaches at Jenks, was determined to lead the ‘79 team to victory.

Head Coach Perry Beaver.

“I have so many memories of that ‘79 team. They were a tough group that always gave 110%,” recalls former Assistant Coach Steve Elliott, who began his coaching career at Jenks in 1978 as a newly-graduated player from the University of Arkansas.

Along with Beaver and Elliott, the coaching staff consisted of Offensive Coordinator Britt Williams, who later became a successful head coach at Oologah High School, and Defensive Coordinator Bob Pierce.

“Coach Pierce was probably the best defensive coach in the state and all of the players loved him. Britt Williams was one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever known. He was always drawing up plays and was an offensive genius,” said Elliott. “I was right out of college, maybe 22 years old, and I got to coach alongside some of the most brilliant men around.”

The 1979 roster consisted of two All-State players, Seniors Scott Newland and David Dillingham. Newland, a 6’2, unstoppable defensive end and occasional fullback who averaged an unbelievable 18 tackles per game, fondly remembers that season.

The 1979 Jenks Trojan Varsity Football Roster.

“It was a fun year, and I have great memories of the season,” said Newland. “We were a tough group of guys, and we were determined to get to that state championship game again after losing the year before.”

Dillingham, standing at 6 foot 5 inches and weighing in at 225 pounds, was a dominant member of both the offensive and defensive line and helped the team hold their opponents to only 134 points in 14 games.

David Dillingham and Scott Newland with Coach Beaver at the 1979 All State football game.

“Dillingham was a huge guy and a terrific player, and he helped our defense keep opponents to only 9.5 points per game that season,” said Newland, “and I was very fortunate to have him as one of my best friends. They just don’t make them like David anymore.”

Other key players on the team included Senior QB Kyle Risenhoover, Junior RB Joel Sense, Junior Defensive End Darin Berryhill, and my father, Senior Punter and Left Cornerback Derek Taylor.

“I was the utility guy; I was utilized by the coaches in multiple positions,” recalls Taylor. “I played everything from punter to cornerback to kickoff team, and even running back over the course of the season, so it was rare that I would be on the sidelines.”

Running Back Joel Sense almost didn’t end up playing for the Trojans.

“That year was my first year at Jenks,” said Sense, “and I had been offered a spot on several other schools’ teams, but Coach Beaver needed a running back and I had heard that Jenks had a good program, so I picked Jenks. The thing I remember most was that the coaches were stern and hard on us, but they wanted and expected us to succeed.”

Right CB Eric Keys remembers the ‘79 team like it was yesterday.

“We were such a tight-knit group of brothers, and we all played like a team. I consider my teammates from that team to be some of the finest men I've ever known and many I am still good friends with to this day,” said Keys.

For most of the Senior class, playing together was not a new thing; most of them had been together since 5th Grade.

“We had excellent chemistry, we all got along with each other, and we had terrific teamwork,” said Taylor.

The 1979 Trojan football schedule. The Trojans finished the season 11-2.

During the regular season, the team faced off against some of their biggest rivals, including Broken Arrow, Owasso, and Bixby.

“We played Broken Arrow and lost 3-0 in double overtime, but I had a blocked field goal, 3 sacks, and 12 tackles in the game. Barry Switzer happened to see the film and called me up and wanted me to come to OU, and I did,” recalls Newland.

Unlike today’s rivalry with the Bixby Spartans, who just won their 6th straight state championship, the Jenks-Bixby rivalry in the 70’s was quite different.

“Back in the day, we were big rivals with Bixby, but they didn't beat us very often. They gave us trouble that year though. The game turned around after I got an interception and we ended up winning the game,” said Keys.

At the end of the season, the Trojans entered into the playoffs with an 8-2 record. After winning their first game, the team faced a real challenge against Claremore.

“The game came down to us kicking a field goal,” explains Coach Elliott, “and Keith Harder, our kicker, won the game for us with a field goal as time expired. Keith was one of the only people I ever saw who kicked a field goal straight on.”

The Trojans then went on to win a revenge match against McAlester to clinch a spot in the 3A State Championship against the Ada Cougars. But that would be no easy task.

“Up to that point, Ada was the football dynasty in Oklahoma. They had more championships than anybody and they were unstoppable,” said Elliott.

At the time, Ada had won 11 state championships. Before Jenks became the powerhouse program they are today, there was Ada.

“We were not favored to win that game,” said Keys, “but after having lost the championship the year before, we knew we hadn't come this far for us to come up short again.”

On a freezing cold, Friday evening, December 7th, 1979, the two teams went head-to-head in Oklahoma City in their only matchup to date, in one of the most historically important games in Oklahoma high school football history.

“That game was miserable,” recalls Taylor. “It was raining and sleeting and it was freezing cold outside. The field was frozen, very slippery, and really difficult to get traction on.”

The Trojans were driven by their powerful defense, with strong performances from Dillingham and Newland. The Trojans offense was led by Sense, who had a 100+ yard game and two touchdowns, and wide receiver Dan Polivka, who had several long yard catches.

“Risenhoover had busted his knee-cap the week before, so we had to put in Brett Bond at QB that game, and he had never played the position before in a game,” said Elliott. “But all we told him to do was to hand it off to Joel Sense, and the rest is history.”

Ada was led by a strong offense, with their huge offensive line and giant 6’3” fullback Terry Sumner leading the Cougars’ offensive efforts throughout the game.

Both teams hit field goals in the 1st quarter, tying at 3-3 going into the 2nd.

“It was so difficult to go anywhere on the field because of the weather, and it’s hard to remember a lot about the game because it was so cold and went by so quickly,” remembers Sense.

At halftime, the Trojans were up 10-3 after a late 2nd quarter touchdown drive by the Trojans.

“It was 4th Down, and I was getting ready to punt,” said Taylor. “I could tell that they were going to try to block the punt. I had 5 guys coming at me. One of Ada’s defensive players came so close to me after I punted the ball that I fell back and performed a really great acting stunt. The refs called a roughing the kicker call on Ada, and we got the ball back and drove the ball down to the end zone and scored.”

The 3rd Quarter ended with no score by either team, but in the first 6 minutes of the 4th Quarter, Ada hammered in two touchdowns, making the score 15-10.

“We were under a lot of pressure to win the game, and we knew then that it was time for us to kick it into gear,” said Keys.

Then, in true Trojan football fashion, Jenks miraculously advanced the ball down the field, with Bond handing it off to Sense for a late TD. With less than a minute left on the clock, Ada received the ball from the kickoff, but Jenks’ powerful defense kept them far and away from the endzone until time expired.

The Jenks Trojans had officially won their first football state championship.

The 1979 3A Championship trophy and game-winning football signed by the team.

“Everyone in the stands flooded the field, and they were all ecstatic that we won. It was the greatest feeling in the world,” remembers Keys.

“After the game, I remember I was brought over to the sidelines by a reporter for an interview, but I don’t think I said much,” said Sense. “One of the other players answered a question to a reporter, and the next day I opened up the paper to see that they had quoted me instead of him!”

After winning the game, the whole city was in high spirits over the game, as it was perhaps the biggest thing to ever happen to the school.

“The city made a sign later in 1980 that stood at the entrance to Jenks from Tulsa and it said ‘Home of the 1979 3A Football Champions’. We all were just about as proud as we could be about that sign, and when they took it down, I managed to get it, and I still have it today,” said Keys.

The sign that once stood at the entrance to the city.

44 Years Later

Coach Beaver would go on to lead the Trojans to their second championship in 1982 before retiring in 1990. A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Beaver served as Principal Chief from 1996 to 2003. He is a member of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Beaver passed away in 2015 at the age of 74.

Steve Elliott enjoyed a 19 year career of coaching at Jenks, leading the Girls and Boys Golf teams to their first ever state championships, and even became the assistant Athletic Director at Jenks. He left coaching altogether in 1997 to become a pharmaceutical representative, and is now retired and resides in Arizona.

Britt Williams coached collegiate after leaving Jenks in the early 80's, and went on to be a successful head coach at Oologah High School. He is now retired.

David Dillingham earned a football scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, where he was a starting center and a crucial member of the Sooners offensive line in 1983 and ‘84. He later worked for Citgo, an oil and gas company, in Houston, TX. Dillingham passed away in 2018 at the age of 58 from cancer.

Scott Newland also earned a football scholarship to OU and played for several years. He has since worked for Jostens and Baker Hughes, and now works in the oil and gas industry and lives in Midland, TX.

Joel Sense went on to play college football at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, where he was a fellow teammate of legendary Jenks coach Allan Trimble. Interesting enough, they both were coached by Coach Steve Elliott’s dad. Sense became a Tulsa Police officer and served for over 20 years, and is now retired.

Derek Taylor played briefly for the Oklahoma Sooners as a scout team quarterback and won a Big 8 Championship as a member before being injured. He became a successful general manager for Best Buy, where he helped open the Oklahoma, Arizona, and California markets for the company in the 1990's. He and his wife, Becky, also a Jenks alumni, helped revive the Jenks Trojan Football website in 2004 and live in Tulsa.

Eric Keys played college football at Northeastern Oklahoma State University and the University of Arkansas, and worked for American Airlines for over 30 years. He and his wife live in Yukon, OK.

Other members of that first state championship team became business owners, financial advisors, insurance agents, retail sales associates, and even CEO’s. They’ve gotten married, had children of their own and some now have grandchildren. Some are now retired. A number of them still live in the Tulsa area and others live as far away as New York. But what all of them have in common is that none of them have forgotten about the time they spent as teenagers on that football team.

“Winning the state championship that season is one of the most impactful and important moments of my entire life, and I'm so honored that I was on that team. And getting to reconnect with the guys at reunions in years past (2004 and 2019) is like reliving those memories all over again,” said Keys.

For Newland, being on the ‘79 team is something he is extremely proud of.

“I learned a lot from being on that team, and I am very grateful to have been able to play with such a great group of people and helped start something special at Jenks,” Newland said.

Today, we have these men, a group of determined, rugged, tight-knit, talented high schoolers and a legendary coaching staff who “started it all” 44 years ago this month, to thank for starting the football dynasty that is the Jenks Trojans today. Not only are their names etched in the Jenks history books, but in the all-time football history books, and Jenks, America is on the map today because of them.

Below is footage from the 1979 State Championship game. The first video is from the 2nd Quarter drive that put the Trojans up 10-3, and the second is the game-winning drive from the 4th Quarter and the end. The videos are grainy and of low quality, but nonetheless remarkable footage of this historic game. Video 1. Video 2.