Northwest Indiana urban dwellers like Mason Zurek and Austin Brown made the difficult transition to Wabash College, which nestles in the sleepy central Indiana city of Crawfordsville. Give football an assist.
“It’s a whole new lifestyle,” said Zurek, an Andrean grad whose resume includes seven 100-yard rushing games in the last three years. “Academically, it’s a challenge.”
“It’s a little bit of an adjustment,” Brown said. “But, they keep you so busy, you hardly notice.”
The junior safety from Griffith attracted plenty of notice last season, leading the Little Giants with 100-plus tackles. He and Zurek received All-North Coast Conference honors.
What originally attracted them to the all-male college of 900 students was a welcoming environment. Add their names to a long list of Northwest Indiana talent which has contributed to Wabash’s rich tradition and its current 3-0 record.
In Coach Erik Raeburn’s eight years of residence at the Montgomery County seat , he said he could rattle off 20 players from the Region who have earned all-conference recognition. Coming into Zurek’s senior season, Wabash has won 27 of its last 32 games.
During Brown’s recruitment he was squired about by Kyle Najar. The Griffith grad preceded him as a defensive back.
Nestled in a rural setting Wabash provides a home away from home. Zurek remembers being escorted around campus by Mike Skinner, another Andrean grad. Once settling in Zurek has has roomed with Tyler Trepton and Zeke Godinez, both baseball players with Lake County roots.
“That was one of the reasons I came here,” said Zurek, who morphed from an offensive lineman during his Pop Warner years to a powerhouse all-state back in high school. “There’s a whole bunch of us here from the Region.”
Zurek attracted Wabash’s attention with a belated switch to become Northwest Indiana’s leading rusher and scorer in 2011. That came as a bit of a shock.
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“My junior year I was worried about playing time because I thought a couple of guys were ahead of me at fullback,” he recalled.
Being late by an hour for Andrean’s first two-a-day practice didn’t exactly endear him to coach Phil Mason.
“When I walked in Coach gave me a death stare,” he said, “then told me I would be working out with the tailbacks. It kinda floored me.”
It didn’t take long for Zurek to make an impact. In Game 2 of his junior year he carried 25 times for 160 yards. The rest is history.
“I pretty much shocked everybody ’cause nobody knew much about me,” said Zurek, who earned all-state honors at Andrean.
In his sophomore season at Wabash, Zurek was headed for Offensive Player of the Year honors when a broken leg sidelined him after only five games.
“He was leading the conference in rushing at the time,” Raeburn said.
Last year Zurek and Tyler Holmes shared the role of featured back. Zurek responded with 835 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. The Little Giants posted a 10-2 record which ended with a second-round loss in the NCAA Division III playoffs to defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Most of his yardage comes between tackles, battering with a 6-0, 225-pound frame. Arguably the North Coast’s biggest back, Zurek also outweighs more than a few defensive linemen.
Currently, Zurek was on a pace to reach 1,000 rushing yards, rushing for 54 yards in the first half of a 42-14 rout of Wittenberg. Not what you’d expect for someone mistakenly accused of being a plodder.
“I’ve got decent speed and I’m pretty hard to tackle,” he said. “Probably shiftier than people would expect.”
Brown credits his versatility for imposing defensive stats, which include six interceptions and two touchdowns.
“I also play some outside linebacker, which gives me more tackling opportunities,” said the junior safety, who has already received conference Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“Austin covers the other team’s leading receiver and provides run support,” Raeburn said. “The way we play defense, he has to be very physical.”
Giving Northwest Indiana its props, the Wabash coach sums it up this way: Keep ’em coming.
John Mutka is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.