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EDITOR’S NOTE: Months of research led to a series, “Year of the Quarterback,” being presented in three waves. The first wave — 10 articles covering the volatile new world of the transfer portal — was published recently. This is the eighth story in the second wave, which tracksthen-and-now journeys of 10 Stark County quarterbacks.
Alliance High School quarterback Brendan Zurbrugg poses for a photo with his father Chris Zurbrugg at Silver Park, Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
Dick, Dan and Denny were Stark County’s three “Ds” of Michigan football.
Dick Kempthorn (Canton McKinley) anchored the defense of a dynamo that won the 1948 national championship.
Dan Dierdorf (Canton Glenwood) plowed a path from All-American on Michigan’s offensive line to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Denny Franklin (Massillon Washington) quarterbacked a Wolverine machine that went 30-2-1 from 1972-74.
“Z” aimed to add an Alliance accent to their Ann Arbor exploits.
Chris Zurbrugg grew up when anything seemed possible for a “Carnation City” quarterback. He was 6 when Alliance’s favorite son, Len Dawson, was a Super Bowl MVP with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Zurbrugg’s dad, Ralph, played at Miami (Ohio) University when Woody Hayes was head coach and Bo Schembechler was a graduate assistant. Ralph became a high school coach in Muncie, Indiana and a college assistant at Northern Illinois.
In 1976, the family moved to Alliance, near Ralph’s boyhood home of Sebring. Chris spent fifth grade at the local Catholic school, Regina Coeli, before enrolling at State Street Middle School.
He made the Alliance High School varsity as a freshman kicker. It was painful at the time when he missed a point-after in a 13-13 tie with McKinley.
“It went straight over the right upright,” he sighs.
Quarterback Clay Brown graduated. Zurbrugg took over as a sophomore for head coach…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/chris-zurbrugg-battled-jim-harbaugh-100957832.html
Author : The Repository
Publish date : 2024-10-18 10:09:57
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