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Coach Buzea update


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1 hour ago, Bobref said:

He’s a pretty tough guy. My money’s on him.

Agreed. Had the wonderful opportunity to join his last staff at Portage in 2006. I learned more about the ins and outs of coaching from him, than I thought I’d ever imagine. 

Meticulous coach. 

Quick story.

I was the WR coach and offensive personnel coordinator for this team. 

We were running our offensive schemes vs. prep D in the summer, June maybe.  I got a wr wrong. Got my butt chewed. Needless to say, I never made that mistake again. 😆 

Praying for him daily. 

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1 hour ago, Ultimate Warrior said:

Sounds a lot like my mom

Went through so many tests and thought it was this or that. 

Thoughts are with Coach Buzea. He and My mom will be kicking cancers butt!

It’s a long road with many twists and turns, just stay positive!!!

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Played against Buzz in high school.   He was tough as nails running out of the wishbone for Les Thornton Griffith Panthers.   Buzea and Ken Lenz were the wishbone backs running behind fullback Eli Jovanovich. 

Griffith always gave us fits but Highland usually came out on top.  That changed in the 90s with the arrival of Coach Radtke

Buzea was also a helluva pitcher.   Live arm and a wicked fastball.   Great athlete.   Praying for him and hoping for his quick recovery.  

 

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4 minutes ago, DT said:

Played against Buzz in high school.   He was tough as nails running out of the wishbone for Les Thornton Griffith Panthers.   Buzea and Ken Lenz were the wishbone backs running behind fullback Eli Jovanovich. 

Griffith always gave us fits but Highland usually came out on top.  That changed in the 90s with the arrival of Coach Radtke

Buzea was also a helluva pitcher.   Live arm and a wicked fastball.   Great athlete.   Praying for him and hoping for his quick recovery.  

 

Funny story. Years ago when I was working small college football, I was assigned a game at Lakeland  University in Sheboygan, WI. As the crew was walking from our locker room to the building exit on our way out to the field, we went through a long corridor filled with portraits of the athletes in the Lakeland Muskies (I’m not making this up) Hall of Fame. Sure enough, there was a picture of Buzz, who held the career rushing record at Lakeland. He had quite the head of hair in those days. 😆

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2 minutes ago, Bobref said:

Funny story. Years ago when I was working small college football, I was assigned a game at Lakeland  University in Sheboygan, WI. As the crew was walking from our locker room to the building exit on our way out to the field, we went through a long corridor filled with portraits of the athletes in the Lakeland Muskies (I’m not making this up) Hall of Fame. Sure enough, there was a picture of Buzz, who held the career rushing record at Lakeland. He had quite the head of hair in those days. 😆

We were nearly teammates.  I went up to Lakeland on a recruiting trip with two of my Highland teammates.  Got caught in a blizzard up there and nearly wrecked my Dad's car.  Lol.    What a trip.   

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1994 Portage @ Hobart.  Standing room only at the Brickie Bowl.  Joe Christian went berserk.  That Brickie mystique was never the same to me after that night.  Beat defending runner up Lake Central twice that year.

1997 Portage hosted Hobart.  Buzea VS. Howell as the coaching match-up.  Bricking fans packed the visiting stands at the Warpath.  During the course of the game Buzz walked across the field to the Hobart sideline to dispute a call with the officials.  The Brickies fans totally erupted.

1998 Portage upset a top ranked Valpo team twice.

2002 Portage hosted Valpo in the sectional championship game.  Portage got flagged because Buzz kept the team in the locker room 15 minutes after halftime was over.

2009 Michigan City traveled over to Valpo.  City fans packed the Valpo stands.  City pulled off a rare win thanks to the efforts of Adam Harmon running out of the wildcat.  Mark Hoffman apparently told Buzz after the game that he will never beat him ever again, he was right, Buzea left for H-F the next season.

 

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1 hour ago, Tommy said:

1994 Portage @ Hobart.  Standing room only at the Brickie Bowl.  Joe Christian went berserk.  That Brickie mystique was never the same to me after that night.  Beat defending runner up Lake Central twice that year.

1997 Portage hosted Hobart.  Buzea VS. Howell as the coaching match-up.  Bricking fans packed the visiting stands at the Warpath.  During the course of the game Buzz walked across the field to the Hobart sideline to dispute a call with the officials.  The Brickies fans totally erupted.

1998 Portage upset a top ranked Valpo team twice.

2002 Portage hosted Valpo in the sectional championship game.  Portage got flagged because Buzz kept the team in the locker room 15 minutes after halftime was over.

2009 Michigan City traveled over to Valpo.  City fans packed the Valpo stands.  City pulled off a rare win thanks to the efforts of Adam Harmon running out of the wildcat.  Mark Hoffman apparently told Buzz after the game that he will never beat him ever again, he was right, Buzea left for H-F the next season.

 

Great stories.   The Region sure misses a competitive Portage football program

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3 hours ago, Tommy said:

1994 Portage @ Hobart.  Standing room only at the Brickie Bowl.  Joe Christian went berserk.  That Brickie mystique was never the same to me after that night.  Beat defending runner up Lake Central twice that year.

1997 Portage hosted Hobart.  Buzea VS. Howell as the coaching match-up.  Bricking fans packed the visiting stands at the Warpath.  During the course of the game Buzz walked across the field to the Hobart sideline to dispute a call with the officials.  The Brickies fans totally erupted.

1998 Portage upset a top ranked Valpo team twice.

2002 Portage hosted Valpo in the sectional championship game.  Portage got flagged because Buzz kept the team in the locker room 15 minutes after halftime was over.

2009 Michigan City traveled over to Valpo.  City fans packed the Valpo stands.  City pulled off a rare win thanks to the efforts of Adam Harmon running out of the wildcat.  Mark Hoffman apparently told Buzz after the game that he will never beat him ever again, he was right, Buzea left for H-F the next season.

 

Shhhhhhh.  We do not want to talk about that.  

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  • 8 months later...
On 1/22/2020 at 9:50 AM, Tommy said:

1994 Portage @ Hobart.  Standing room only at the Brickie Bowl.  Joe Christian went berserk.  That Brickie mystique was never the same to me after that night.  Beat defending runner up Lake Central twice that year.

1997 Portage hosted Hobart.  Buzea VS. Howell as the coaching match-up.  Bricking fans packed the visiting stands at the Warpath.  During the course of the game Buzz walked across the field to the Hobart sideline to dispute a call with the officials.  The Brickies fans totally erupted.

1998 Portage upset a top ranked Valpo team twice.

2002 Portage hosted Valpo in the sectional championship game.  Portage got flagged because Buzz kept the team in the locker room 15 minutes after halftime was over.

2009 Michigan City traveled over to Valpo.  City fans packed the Valpo stands.  City pulled off a rare win thanks to the efforts of Adam Harmon running out of the wildcat.  Mark Hoffman apparently told Buzz after the game that he will never beat him ever again, he was right, Buzea left for H-F the next season.

 

Portage had the visiting side of the Brickie Bowl at standing room only by about 5 PM. Hobart's Admin. was pi**ed that some seats were ripped up. What they don't realize is they snapped from fans jumping up and down when Christian took the first play from scrimmage to the house. That was a beating Portage had waited their entire history to give to Hobart, at the famed Brickie Bowl no less.

It's a shame Buzz is making a fortune across the State Line in Illinois. Would love to see him mend bridges at Portage and finish what he started dating back to his days as OC for Bubba Mattix. 

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