Former Hardin Northern head coach Pete Brunow receives a plaque and acknowledges the home crowd during the field dedication on Friday night.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
“Brunow ball” is a simple phrase that has plenty of meaning to the community surrounding Hardin Northern High School.
The term is used to describe the style of play installed by Hall of Fame coach Pete Brunow, a man who led the Polar Bears to a record of 221-70 over 26 years, including the 2004 D-VI State Championship.
On Friday night before a 38-15 win over Perry, Hardin Northern celebrated the 20th anniversary of the ‘04 state title and dedicated “Pete Brunow Field” to its legendary head coach.
And nearly every former player honored at the ceremony donned a black shirt with the phrase “I played Brunow ball” on it.
So what exactly is Brunow ball?
“That meant we ran the ball,” Pete Brunow said. “Some people said that I only had four plays and they were all runs. I think I added a fifth play and that was a passing play later on, but we ran the ball.”
It was that philosophy that helped push Hardin Northern over the top in 2004 when they finished off a 14-1 season with a State Championship after coming up short in 2002 and other years prior.
“I had a lot of good teams at Hardin Northern,” Brunow said. “There was like five or six times that it got away from us when we could have played for a state championship. Sometimes it happens when you least expect it. We went on a playoff run that year and we had big men, fast players, everything you needed to have, and we came together and pulled it off.”
Brunow said one game in particular that stood out from the playoff run was a third-round matchup against New Bremen played on Wapakoneta’s old grass field.
With over two inches of rain on the ground, Hardin Northern pulled out a 22-7 victory. That was the moment he realized his team had what it took to win it all.
“Somehow or another we were able to slosh through that and come out with a win,” he said. “After that, we played Danville and they looked like a really physical team but we came out there and beat them too. We just kept moving along and doing what we had to do.”
2004’s team was just one of many memorable groups for Brunow, who also led a team nicknamed “the dirty two dozen” to an 8-2 record and second place in the Blanchard Valley Conference in 1990.
He said his biggest point of pride was the work ethic of his players and the effort they gave knowing that they were almost always outnumbered by the opposing team, sometimes by two or three times the amount of players.
“When the first kid came out of the locker room (from opposing teams), he’d be all the way across the field by the time the last kid was coming out. That’s how it was. We won some of those games, and all but one of them was a dogfight to the very end. Those kinds of games made us stronger.”
Brunow said he even sees the same mentality in the 2024 Hardin Northern team, who still leans on the same principles of “Brunow ball” under head coach Jerry Cooper.
Against Perry, Hardin Northern’s Nolan Hopson ran for 214 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries, leading his team to 330 total yards on the ground.
Through five games, the Polar Bears are 4-1 (4-0 NWCC) and they’ve run the ball 211 times for 1,648 yards and 19 touchdowns. That’s 84 percent of the team’s total offense and all but three of its touchdowns.
Brunow said that running the ball is something that’s in the DNA of Hardin Northern’s football players. And there’s validity to that statement, considering that some current players’ dads played for Brunow during his 26-year run.
The Polar Bears found success in the run game then and they continue to find success in it now.
As for the field dedication, Brunow called it a “great honor” and said he’s received plenty of messages from his former players and members of the community.
After he was presented with a plaque during the pregame ceremony, the legendary coach acknowledged the home crowd, then he walked across the field where his name was painted between each 40-yard line.
It was a full-circle moment for Pete Brunow.
“I came here 40 years ago and they hadn’t won for a while. They probably thought I was crazy, but we started winning and I don’t think anyone worked as hard as our guys did. When I look around this field, I can see great plays and I can remember every spot where they were made. That’s probably why we are where we’re at today.”
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
