Playoff beards and broken collarbones

BY CHRIS OGRYSKI
EDITOR
After their 42-6 win over Harbor Beach in Week 4, Eric LaBuhn and Dalton O’Connor made a pact; they weren’t going to shave until the team lost. Now nearly 10 weeks later and this dynamic duo brings new meaning to the term “shaggy.”
While talking to LaBuhn about this story, Jordan Kaufman added that he was also secretly part of the agreement.
“Just so you know, I haven’t shaven either,” a clean-faced Kaufman joked.
That type of kidding is a regular part of the team dynamic, especially between Kaufman and LaBuhn.
“Every time the ball comes my way (on defense) I start chomping at the bit…,” LaBuhn said as he began to answer a question about why he likes playing defense.
“Especially in practice junior year,” Kaufman interjected.
The play Kaufman refers to is the one in which he broke his collarbone following a tackle from LaBuhn. The injury kept him out of action for the first four weeks of the 2007 season.
In all seriousness, Kaufman knows what transpired that day on the field was an accident, but it doesn’t stop him from busting LaBuhn’s chops over it. “I tease Eric that he broke my collarbone, but really he was just playing his spot,” Kaufman said. “That is the nice thing about this team; no one really gets down on one another (even when they break your collarbone).”