'Complete player, better kid': Rochester's Henry Buecker earns Large School Football POTY
After his junior season, Henry Buecker knew he needed to be even better as a senior. He couldn’t have predicted how much his Rochester football team would need him to reach a whole other level.
When Parker Gillespie was injured in the preseason and missed the first seven games, it put a big onus on versatile players such as Buecker. When Tyson Binion was lost for the season in the second round of the playoffs, Buecker again stepped up his game.
Buecker led the Central State Eight Conference in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and interceptions. He was a two-way wrecking ball.
More: Here is The State Journal-Register's 2023 all-area offensive football team
Oh, he also filled in when kicker Lach Sullivan missed two games due to soccer commitments and made six of eight point-after kicks.
Buecker was just one standout on a team full of them, but his efforts not only helped Rochester go 14-0 and win the Class 4A state championship — the ninth time the Rockets have hoisted that trophy since 2010 — but he also earned The State Journal-Register's Large School Football Player of the Year award for 2023.
“It’s nice having that respect from people that aren’t on my team, but anybody on our team could’ve won it,” Buecker said. “I think if Tyson Binion doesn’t get injured, he puts up better numbers than me. If Parker Gillespie doesn’t get injured, he puts up way better receiving numbers than me. But it’s nice.”
He’s humble, too.
“He was a complete player and he’s even a better kid,” Rochester coach Derek Leonard said. “I thought he had the potential to do that (lead the CS8 in receiving and interceptions) this year, and to do it is hard. I don’t know how many times that’s been done. He’s a special player.”
Biggest impact, if not biggest body
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior caught 67 passes for 1,119 yards and 15 touchdowns. Defensively, he led Rochester with seven interceptions.
With that number, it would be a fair question to ask why opposing quarterbacks would even throw in Buecker’s vicinity. But Rochester hauled in 30 total INTs — including five by the aforementioned Binion — which tied a CS8 record.
“He probably has the best instincts I’ve ever had as a defensive back: his anticipation and reading and how quickly he can break on just reading a quarterback’s eyes,” Rochester defensive coordinator and Henry’s dad, Steve Buecker, said. “He’s breaking on a ball right as a quarterback is throwing it. His instincts and anticipation, I think, are what set him apart.”
Buecker was a defensive-minded player when he began playing varsity football as a sophomore. He said he almost didn’t have a choice. The Rockets were loaded on offense by upperclassmen who not only had experience, but they had height on the then-5-foot-6, 125-pound Buecker.
Buecker’s defensive abilities and knowledge were also absorbed through osmosis from his dad, no doubt, but he also credits plenty of time with a game controller in his hand.
“It’s definitely the coaching and being able to get in the right spots at the right time, but I played a lot of 'Madden' in my day, so I’ve got a little extra football IQ,” Buecker said. “That helps for sure.”
Ending the “drought”
Most football programs in the state of Illinois would love to claim just one football championship since 2019. But the Rockets’ senior class did not want to be the first since 2009 not to bring home at least one title.
“There wasn’t a ton of pressure, but it’s something that’s been drilled into our heads since we were kids that it’s the expectation at Rochester — it really is — to get a ring and win state,” Buecker said. “We were excited to do it together.
“At the end of the day, I honestly don’t care about my stats; all I wanted was a ring, and I’m going to get that this spring.”
More: Here is The State Journal-Register's 2023 all-area defensive football team
In the 4A state championship game at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium against Burbank St. Laurence, Rochester took a 7-0 lead 2:17 into the game when Buecker scored on a 12-yard run. It was only his second rushing touchdown of the season.
“That was fun,” said the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 4A All-State selection. “Coach Leonard draws up the weirdest, craziest, best plays trying to get us all the ball and share the love. That was fun to get a rushing touchdown.”
He put Rochester ahead for good nearly five minutes later when he caught a 14-yard pass from Bryan Zulauf.
“They really were a great team, and they came out and battled us hard,” Buecker said of St. Burbank. “That was the toughest game we had all year, for sure. When you have our coaches and the preparation and the brotherly love that we all have for each other, you trust each other and trust the team to go out there and win the game.”
Buecker is still unsure of his college plans, but he does know he wants to study civil engineering or sports medicine.
What can a college football program expect by bringing in Buecker?
“He’s one of those kids that doesn’t have any weaknesses,” Leonard said. “I think maybe his only weakness is just his size, and he got much stronger and bigger as the four years went.
“He runs routes good, he’s fast, he’s smart, he has great quickness and instinct; he’s a tough kid. He really does check every box. (His GPA is) 4.0, treats everyone nice (and is) a good leader.”
What more could you want?
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rochester's Henry Buecker is the Large School Football Player of Year
