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BY DALE KOVAR Herald Journal General Manager Over 24 seasons in Silver Lake and ve in Glen - coe-Silver Lake under the guidance of Coach Buz Rumrill, hundreds of young men shared the joys and pains of playing high school football. Buz yelled at us. He laughed with us. He taught us how to be good football players. First, he was our coach. As we grew up, he was a lifetime friend. Every player has his own story about the experi- ence of playing for Coach Buz. This is one of them. Kicking it off In 1970, a young South Dakota native named Bur- ton Rumrill, who went by “Buz,” arrived at Silver Lake High School to teach social studies and history – and coach football. Victories didn’t come right away, but when they did, they came in bunches. Silver Lake had enjoyed a run of success in the ‘60s, especially the unbeaten 1967 team that only al- lowed one touchdown in its eight-game season. But every athletic program goes through its up/ down cycles, and so it was for the Lakeites. Year- books show that the team won only one game in each of Buz’s rst three seasons in Silver Lake. After that, a winning tradition was established that lasted long beyond Buz’s reign. Cover the point Buz preferred a style of we’re-going-to-run-the- ball-and-you-can-try-to-stop-us. He often said that three things can happen when a team passes, and two of them are bad – incomplete or interception. Still, his playbook had some options for when a pass was in order. Our go-to pass play was sending a tight end out about 10 yards and then cutting all the way across the eld. High school de - fenses weren’t too adept at covering crossing routes, so that play often came through when we needed it. Playing under Buz, he instilled in me the most ba- sic fundamental of football: “cover the point.” Car- rying the ball tucked between your arm and chest, Annandale | Bu alo | Cokato | Darwin | Dassel | Delano | Glencoe | Howard Lake | Hutchinson | Kimball | Lester Prairie Litch eld | Loretto | Maple Lake | Maple Plain | Mayer | Montrose | Mound | New Germany | Norwood Young America Rockford | Silver Lake | South Haven | St. Bonifacius | Waconia | Watertown | Waverly | Winsted Senior Con n e c t ion s is distributed to: May/June 2023 VOLUME 5 | NO. 3 Senior Con n e ct ion s HJ.COM SUBMITTED PHOTO An autographed yearbook photo of Buz Rumrill coaching. More COACH BUZ on Pg 11 High school football memories: tribute to Coach Buz Rumrill Buz Rumrill 1970-71 yearbook and recently