Lake Gibson's Brozio hunts in FCS national championship game on offense, reflects on Polk County

One familiar face and football player represented Polk County and played in the 2023 FCS national championship game on Sunday in Frisco, Texas. But this time he was on the other side of the ball.

The Ledger’s Large School Defensive Player of the Year in 2018 as a Lake Gibson Brave, Hunter Brozio, could be found at the national championship game as a North Dakota State University Bison (No. 3 seed) fullback taking on the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits (No. 1 seed), blocking in a three-tight-end, one-fullback set. He even blocked a mic linebacker on a third-and-1 play to help quarterback Cam Miller muscle for a first down in the middle of the game. But he Bisons ended up losing the championship game 45-21.

Still, NDSU is a Division I FCS powerhouse having won 17 national championships in its history, including nine in the past 11 years. Familiar NFL players have played high-caliber football there, including Carson Wentz (QB, Washington Commanders), Trey Lance (QB, San Francisco 49ers), Cordell Volson (guard, Cincinnati Bengals), Brayden Thomas (defensive end, Los Angeles Rams), Christian Watson (wide receiver, Green Bay Packers), among many others.

And Brozio was so good in Polk County, racking up 120 tackles, a sack, two hurries, one interception and three pass deflections his senior year, that he had the opportunity to sign with North Dakota State, eventually representing Polk County in the biggest game of the year.

“It was awesome. I mean I’m proud of where I’m from,” Brozio said. “Polk County is well known for football players and football in general. But it was nice being all the way at North Dakota State being all the way up here across the country, it’s really cool representing the 863. Awesome.”

When Brozio played Sunday, he thought about what Polk County schools did for him. He went to Victory Christian before transferring to Lake Gibson his sophomore year to play Class 5A competition — the student-athletes he grew up watching. The coaches who crossed his mind include former Lake Gibson head coach Doug DeMyer, who, he said, developed him as a leader.

He said he remembers the mentality they taught him.

“Being from Polk County, it’s physical football,” Brozio said. “There’s a lot of competition, so you got to want it. And I’m very proud of where I come from. I love to represent Lakeland, Florida, and Polk County in general. I think Polk County has had a big impact on who I am today. I think it’s made me the player I am now. It’s gave me an edge.”

Brozio transitions to offense

Brozio’s edge was from the defensive side of the ball having played mic linebacker for the Storm and the Braves as a high school player, though he did play a few snaps on offense in those times.

His virtuoso performances took him to a three-day football camp at North Dakota State when he was a junior at Lake Gibson. Brozio would go on to win the Most Valuable Player award for linebackers, which positioned him in the eyers of coaches at North Dakota State.

The Lakeland native would go on to sign his letter of intent as a linebacker and long snapper.

But North Dakota State offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl, who played running back for the Bisons in the 2000s, saw something different in Brozio.

“He saw that I had something in me, and he said, ‘Why don’t you come over to the fullback, tight end room and we’ll make a fullback out of you?’ and it just kind of skyrocketed from there,” Brozio said.

From there, Brozio trained on the ladder to get his feet even quicker and ran routes. He also cut a lot of his body fat down, losing 8 pounds before putting on some lean muscle.

Because of this transition, it was normal to see Bison running backs fade off Brozio’s blocks and run for 60-yard touchdowns off an old pro-style offensive set. He got the shot to do this in February of 2021 when fullback Hunter Luepke went down because of a shoulder injury, ultimately playing all nine games in the spring. Additionally, he was given the chance to play long snapper this season when starter Mike Florentine went into the transfer portal last January.

His special teams and offensive training has given Brozio many chances, including catching two passes in the NCAA FCS Quarterfinal playoff game against No. 9 Samford on Dec. 9. Both catches were for first downs, with his first being a one-handed catch to move the chains. Brozio racked up four receptions on the year.

For his exemplary long-snapping duties on the year, Brozio is a Missouri Valley Football Conference second-team all-conference player.

A huge contingent of family and friends journeyed to the national championship to see their boy play offense and special teams against South Dakota State.

And with the game in the books, it’s all about the next step for Brozio, who will be a senior as an animal science major for the 2023 season.

“I definitely want to try to get into running the ball more,” Brozio said. “Hunter Luepka (NDSU fullback) spent all of his time blocking here. My goal now is to kind of follow in his footsteps and start running the ball, lose some body weight, get back at it, run stronger, faster. ...Hopefully (I can) run the ball a little bit this year.”

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Gibson's Brozio hunts in FCS national championship game