ScuttleBu(r)t …

Tom Wender’s influence helped Iron Mountain’s John Novara build a successful football program at downstate Portland.

Novara, sporting a 43-5 record over the past four seasons, guided the Lansing-area school to the Division 5 state finals this season.

“He (Tom Wender) taught hard work and he was a hard-working man himself and still is,” Novara said of his former high school football coach.

Portland athletic director Kevin Veale and Novara were IMHS teammates in football, basketball and track. Veale was the quarterback and Novara a tight end for Wender’s run-first football offense.

Veale and Novara have been friends since fifth grade.

“He’s (Novara) done it the right way,” Veale told the Lansing State Journal. “He doesn’t take shortcuts. He puts in a lot of time and he cares about the kids first and foremost. I think those are a lot of the reasons that he gets results.”

Kevin Veale’s son, Jacob (5-10, 165), led the Raiders with 1,662 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns. The all-state back transferred this year from Ionia, where in 2017 he was the No. 2 receiver with 576 yards and six touchdowns.

“Everybody knows it was a good choice for me and I’m glad it worked out well,” Jacob said. “It wasn’t awful over there. I don’t have anything against it, but I definitely wanted to come back (to Portland).”

Kevin Veale says Portland’s system “is a lot more complicated than it actually looks. Once he (Jacob) picked up that system, I’m not that surprised he’s doing this well. He’s loved doing this all his life and he’s always been fast and quick.” …

From the fictional Twitter account of Bill Murray: “Do regular dogs see police dogs and think, “Oh crap! It’s the cops!”? …

Florence’s Kari (Flunker) Hoffman, head coach of the Cedarville (Ohio) University women’s basketball team, saw her Lady Jackets end a nine-game winning streak with a loss to nationally-ranked Florida Southern.

Cedarville (9-2) returns Great Midwest Athletic Conference play Wednesday. Hoffman was named the league’s 2018 coach of the year.

Kari and her husband, Jimmy, are the parents of two daughters …

A Michigan high school bowling team seeking equipment after a fire at the lanes figures $200 for a ball, $50 to 60 for shoes and anywhere between $50 to 150 for a bag …

“I’m guesstimating at least $4,000 to $5,000 of equipment was lost, just with (our) kids,” Monroe girls coach Mike Meagher told the Monroe News …

Happy New Year, sports fans! …

Burt Angeli is a Daily News columnist and sports writer. He can be reached at bangeli@ironmountaindailynews.com.