A buzz about the place

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:14PM

Pick a sport, any sport, and chances are Evanston has a strong tradition in it.

Wrestling heavyweight Jeffrey Brown and track sprinter Tremaine Gordon were individual state champs earlier this year. The Wildkits have won state titles in nine sports overall, and have seven state championships in three sports since 2000.

Though Evanston has not won state in football, it reigned as one of the state's premier programs for years under legendary coach Murney Lazier. Before the state playoffs began in 1974, Lazier guided the Wildkits to multiple unbeaten seasons. Other coaches, including Tom Powers and John Riehle, kept the momentum going on Dodge Ave. with regular playoff appearances in the 1980s and '90s.

But when Mike Burzawa arrived a couple years ago after a spectacularly successful coaching run at Driscoll, the Wildkits had fallen on hard times. They had missed the playoffs eight times in nine seasons.

For a big school (more than 3,000 students) with a strong tradition playing in a good but not great conference (the Central Suburban South), Evanston's lack of football success was a puzzler.

But the riddle has been solved. After going 2-7 and 4-5 in Burzawa's first two seasons, the Wildkits are 6-3 and in the postseason for the first time since 2003. As an added bonus, they get a home game tonight at 7 against Fremd (5-4) in a Class 8A opener.

‘‘It's been a long, hard process to get the program where it's at right now,'' said Burzawa, whose Driscoll teams won three state titles.

Senior offensive lineman Josh Dabney, a varsity mainstay since his sophomore year, won't argue with that.

‘‘My class was brought up as winners in the Junior Wildkits program,'' Dabney said. ‘‘We had a stumble sophomore year, but we came back. ... This is eight years of being together.‘‘That bond and that trust can help us through anything.''

There were signs last year the Wildkits were heading in the right direction. Besides just missing out on a playoff berth with a Week 9 loss, they sent three players to big-time programs: Brown to Miami, Pat Hussain to Tulane and walk-on Josh Perryman to Michigan State.

But even this fall, there have been speed bumps on the road back to respectability: a season-opening 35-0 loss to Loyola and consecutive defeats to Waukegan and Maine South that dropped the Wildkits to 3-3. But they finished the regular season with three straight victories, including wins against playoff qualifiers New Trier and Glenbrook South.

Those results haven't gone unnoticed.

‘‘There's a huge response in the community,'' Dabney said. ‘‘We have [fans] who come on the road. We didn't have that last year."

Burzawa, the guy they call ‘‘Coach Buzz,'' has helped to generate that buzz by remaking the program's culture.

‘‘The No. 1 thing we're trying to do is create a family environment,'' he said. ‘‘Last year, [the players] started caring about each other.''

Welcoming former Wildkits back into the program is just one part of that plan. Alums Ryan Healy and Sean Hopson are now on the coaching staff, and quarterback Byron Dawkins has come into his own under Healy's guidance.

Other prime-time players include running back Rendell Massie, receiver James Brown, defensive back Mark Williams and two-way lineman Andre Laden.

What's going on now validates Burzawa's decision to move from one of the state's premier small-school programs to a big school that had been down on its luck.

‘‘I felt it had great potential,'' he said. ‘‘Seeing what coach Lazier did, coach Powers; realizing the excellent academic institution we are here at Evanston.

‘‘This season is where the rubber hits the road.''

And when Evanston football stirs the echoes.

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