Lowell headed to dome with 10-7 Semistate victory over top-ranked Bishop Dwenger

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

11-20-2007

Friday, November 16, 2007,  34 degrees, Class 4A, Northern Semistate at LOWELL, IN

1st Qtr:  No Scoring.
2nd Qtr:  No Scoring.
3rd Qtr:  DWENGER (7-0) Tyler Eifert, 21-yard pass from John Goodman (15th TD pass).  74-yard drive, 6 plays.  Dan Khorshid kick.  9:20 left.
4th Qtr:  LOWELL (7-7) Brandon Grubbe, 30-yard run (22nd TD).  57-yard drive, 7 plays.  David Lang kick.  6:46 left.
LOWELL (10-7) David Lang, 30-yard field goal. (11th field goal)  57-yard drive, 7 plays.  0:06 left.

RUSHING:
DWENGER (25 carries , 92 yards, one fumble)  Jermarkis Willis (HB) 8 carries, 26 yards; Joe Colone (HB) 4 carries, 14 yards, fumble; John Goodman (QB) 8 carries, 54 yards; Aaron Hendricks (HB) 2-6 yards; Matt Maringer (HB) 1-2 yards; Trevor Yerrick (QB) 2 - 10 yards.
LOWELL (51 carries, 204 yards, TD)  Kurt Monix (QB) 2-8 yards; TJ Lukasik (WR) 1-0 yards; Brandon Grubbe (HB) 34 carries, 146 yards, TD; Steffan Peck (HB) 9-55 yards.

PASSING:
DWENGER: John Goodman (QB) 7-of-17, 142 yards, TD, interception; Jermarkis Willis (HB) 0-1, 0 yards;
LOWELL: Kurt Monix (QB) 2-8, 37 yards, 0 TDs, one interception.

RECEIVING:
DWENGER: Tyler Eifert (WR) 3-80 yards, TD; Joe Colone (HB) 1-15 yards; Matt Maringer (HB) 1-17 yards; Jermarkis Willis (HB) 1-14 yards; Kendrick Eaton (TE) 1-14 yards.
LOWELL: Brandon Grubbe (HB) 1-14 yards; Jeff Barker (TE) 1-23 yards.

TOTAL YARDS:
DWENGER:  234 total yards, 11 first downs, 2 turnovers.
LOWELL:  241 total yards, 14 first downs, 2 turnovers.

LOWELL, IN (11-16-2007) -  Oh, yes, this is even better than the last time.  Even more dramatic.  Even more unlikely.  Even more rewarding.  When Lowell won the Class 4A state football championship in 2005, rallying from fourth quarter deficits in all three games and 14-point deficits to win the final two games, I thought it would be years, maybe decades before they went back.

That was before the Devils got shifted to sectional 10 with powerful teams like Concord and Plymouth.  That was before arch-rival Griffith was shifted to 4A to confront Lowell at the regional level.  That was before the Devils got banished to the road for three consecutive playoff games and before they drew undefeated, top-ranked, three-time state champion Bishop Dwenger as a semistate foe.  An outrageously difficult playoff path.

But Friday night, finally returning to the old, cold field out behind the school, almost a month after their last home game... facing one of the truly dominant franchises in Indiana prep football, the Devils walked out again to face a giant of the game.  And then they looked in the mirror and they were one and the same.

Lowell battled the bigger, faster, stronger unbeaten Dwenger Saints in front of a standing-room only crowd numbering almost 4,000 in Lowell.  Down 7-0 with 10 minutes to play, the sixth-ranked Devils backed up the favored visitors with the will to win against all odds and a kicker named David Lang.  In one of the wildest finishes in the history of Northwest Indiana football post-season, Lang's 30-yard field goal with six seconds to play sent Lowell to the state finals for the second time in three years with a 10-7 win in the 2007 Class 4A Northern Semistate championship game.

The Devils (13-1), who have won 13 games for the first time in the century of Lowell football, will face Evansville's Reitz (14-0), a 35-34 4A Southern Semistate winner over defending state champ Cathedral (12-2) for the 2007 state championship at 2:30 p.m. Central time on Saturday, Nov. 24 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.  Lowell can become only the second Northwest Indiana school to win two state football titles.

"The first time we did it," said 15-year coach Kirk Kennedy of 2005, "maybe the planets were lined up and it was just our year. But this time legitimizes it."

No one's going to say they don't have a chance in the Dome even though second-ranked Reitz (14-0) is favored.  Not after the comeback Lowell dug up from the hard Red Devil home turf in 34-degree weather on a late November night that now takes its place in Red Devil history.

Dwenger, led by all-state QB and Notre Dame recruit John Goodman (6-4, 185) and powerful 295-pound linebacker and Indiana University recruit Mick Mentzer (6-4, 295) carried a 7-0 lead into the final quarter.  If Goodman, clearly a Division I athlete, had not overthrown wide open receivers, Dwenger would have scored three or four TDs.  Lowell had punted three consecutive times in the second half without coming close to a first down.  The Devils couldn't throw because Dwenger's secondary was too big and quick.  Lowell couldn't run because the Saints' interior defenders were too strong.

But then came the fourth quarter.

Goodman's roll out pass back across the middle of the field was intercepted by Lowell safety Lukas Palmer who ran it back to the 43-yard line.  Sophomore halfback Brandon Grubbe (5-10, 170), who had been pounded by Mentzer all night long suddenly found holes behind a double tight-end formation using both Jeff Barker and Joe Carlson.  Grubbe, who had just 63 yards on 21 carries after three periods, suddenly found room.  Backed by the roaring Lowell crowd, Grubbe carried seven consecutive times and Lowell went 57 yards for the score that tied the game 7-7 with 6:46 to go.

"It was just a matter of staying low," said Lowell senior center Josh Hayden.  "That linebacker was such a big guy.  He hit hard.  He filled a lot of holes.  The lower man usually wins.  In the line it's all in your heart.  No matter how big you are, it's in your heart.  I give a lot of credit to all our running backs.  They got hit hard."

The Red Devil defense, which held Dwenger's 37-points per game offense to just 234 total yards, quickly forced a punt.  But Lowell could not move the ball either, facing a 4th-and-2 at their own 37-yard line.  Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy decided not to punt with 3:27 left in the game.

As both crowds stood to watch the defining sequence of the season, Grubbe was stopped by the center of the Dwenger line about 18 inches short of the first down at the Lowell 37-yard line in a tie game with just 3:27 left.  The Saints took over and all the top-ranked team needed was two first downs to put themselves in range for a game-winning field goal by senior Dan Khorshid (5 FGs this season).  But Lowell rose up and stopped the Saints (13-1) in three plays, the last one being a sack by Carlson on Goodman, a 4.5 sprinter.

"That's just our motto," said Joe Carlson.  "We just don't stop believing.  We keep on going and we keep on pushing.  All the way.  It's never over until its over."

It wasn't close to being over.  On fourth down, Goodman, who is also the punter, faked a kick and raced towards first down territory on the visitors' side of the field, only to be shoved out of bounds at the Lowell 40, well short of a first down.

"I gambled there," said Kennedy, who went for a 4th-and-1 in his own territory in the fourth quarter of the regional championship game in Griffith on Nov. 9 .

"You've got to believe in your kids.  Give them a chance to made a play.  It probably wasn't the smartest call on earth.  It worked last week.  This time it didn't.  But the defense bailed me out.  They made some plays.  And then they (Dwenger) tried a fake punt, which took me off the hook."

Two plays later, Lowell faced a 3rd-and-3 at their own 47-yard-line with two minutes to go.  They needed another play and they had one.

Kurt Monix, who had one completion all night long, rolled out towards the home sideline and threw a 23-yard pass to tight end Jeff Barker, whose 58-yard TD catch broke a 13-13 tie and won the regional title game at Griffith seven days earlier.  Barker made the catch on the move and got down to the Dwenger 30-yard-line.

In a five-play span, the entire mood changed.  The large blue and gold Dwenger cheering section of maybe 1,000 fans, which arrived in part, in luxury buses, fell silent, while the Lowell home grandstand seemed to grasp that the Devils, who had never led all night, were about to defeat the state's top-ranked team.  When fullback Steffan Peck dragged tacklers 12 yards to the Dwenger 13-yard-line with 45 seconds left, the Lowell crowd started celebrating like the game was over.  Probably because they'd seen this before.

Senior David Lang, with 21 career field goals, was getting ready and there was nothing the unbeaten Saints, short of calling their final two time outs, could do.

"I was just trying as much as I could," said Peck, whose position changes and roller-coaster of emotions epitomizes this team. "When I saw the hole, I just wasn't going to give up until he dragged me down.  I was just keeping the legs going."

"I just did what I always do," said Lang. "Concentrate on the kick."

Lang's field goal had beaten Bishop Dwenger almost two years to the day after his field goal as a sophomore had beaten Fort Wayne South 16-14 in the 2005 4A Northern Semistate.

Don't for a second believe that Bishop Dwenger wasn't the better team this season or that they hadn't played a tough schedule.  With two Division I players playing both sides of the ball, Dwenger had won 13 consecutive games including 10 games by 15 points or more, a 19-point victory over Class 5A Snider (11-2) and a 21-7 win over 3A semistate finalist Concordia Lutheran (10-4).

Lowell only moved the ball when they went to the double-tight end set and ran behind Joe Carlson.  Dwenger overloaded the side where Barker, the Devils biggest tight end, lined up.
Kennedy expected to be impressed by the Saints as he was, even after the game.
   
"Part of their game plan was to take Barker away from us," said Kennedy, "and they did that.  We had to go to other things.  You've got to give them credit for that.  Making us do something different to win.  You can tell that they had a lot of class.  The game didn't go the way they wanted, but, at the end they carried themselves with a lot of dignity."

On the field after the game, Lowell players lingered for almost an hour.  It was unlike any other game in recent history. Two year ago, there was great anticipation of going to the RCA Dome, a place where none of them had been.  But Friday, there was more of an appreciation of the place they came from.

"It's not anything new to us this year," Kennedy said.  "We just want the kids to understand the magnitude of what they're doing.  Just how many people they play for when they take the field every Friday night.  It's not just about our 56 guys.  It's about the community.  The school.  Former players.  Future players.  Football projects school pride.  Community pride.  I think our kids do a good job of representing that."

"Our fans are the best in Indiana, are they not?" Peck offered.  "We could hear them all game.  Did you see what they were like at the end.  I was saying 'Oh My God'.

"The fans pump you up.  To be on this field, it makes you better.  We always had a chance to come back.

"We just used our speed," said linebacker Ben Rigby.  "That was the key.  They made a coupe of plays on us.  But team pursuit.  Just getting after it.  Dirty 'D'."

In the moment of triumph, the Lowell boys also could not forget one former player who is no longer with them.

"We had 12 people out there playing," Peck said of linebacker Dean Frigo, who would have been a senior this year.  Frigo, a starting outside linebacker last season whose number was 33, was killed in a car accident last winter.

"When we huddled up for the field goal, I was standing on the 33 yard line.  I just knew it would be good."

Rigby added, "He (Frigo) was the first friend I ever had.  I knew him since I was four years old.  I have a tattoo that says 'Frigby', a combination of our two names.  I miss him a lot.  I think he's here right now."

SEMISTATE NOTES:  Lowell's Joe Carlson says that, while it may seem that way, the 2005 championship team did not inspire his class to want to be playing on TV the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  He says they were talking about playing for a state title before that.

"We talked about this when we were freshmen," he insists.  "That we wanted to go to the Dome.  We've talked about this for a long time."

Red Devil center Josh Hayden added, "I just feel lucky to be in the right program at the right time," he said.

"I had dreams abut the Dome," admitted senior defensive lineman John Black.  "I'd be sleeping and all of a sudden I'd hear cheering.  The echo in the Dome is the greatest thing ever, especially when they're cheering for your team."

The 13 wins is a Lowell school record.  The 2004 Lowell team was 12-2.  The Devils are now 14-1 in their last 15 playoff games and 2-2 in Semistate games.

Only two Northwest Indiana teams have ever won 14 games and both won the state championship:  Griffith (14-1) was the 1997 3A state champ and Hobart (14-0) was the 1987 4A state champion.  Lowell has trailed in all five playoff games so far this season and has rallied to win.

David Lang's game-winning field goal is his third this season.  His fourth quarter boot beat Morton 3-0 in August.  His fourth period kick also beat Hobart 10-7 in September.

Only one school in the six county area (Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, Jasper and Newton) we call Northwest Indiana has won more than one state football title in the 34 years of the state tournament.  Hobart, which has been in the state title game nine times, won in 1987 1989, 1991 and 1993.  Andrean is 1-4 in state title games.  North Judson is 0-for-2.  The unofficial totals for sophomore Brandon Grubbe push his season yards gained to 1,669 yards on 276 carries.  Senior fullback Steffan Peck had an official 890 yards on 194 carries.

As the excitement of winning the semistate game and reaching the state finals settled, Lowell boys grasped the fact they'd known all week, that win or lose, this was the final game they would play on the old home field out behind the high school.

"I cant explain what about this stadium that I like so much," said Joe Carlson.  "I'm going to miss it so much.  The crowd here.  I can't even explain it."

Lowell's David Lang has been named to the Indianapolis Colts Academic all-state team.  He is 4th in his class.

Lowell knew a fake punt was possibility all night with all-stater John Goodman punting for Dwenger.

"They line up with two wide outs and two in the slot in their punt formation," explained Kennedy.  "So if you put a man on each one (and with one punt returner) that only leaves six (defenders) in the box.  And they've got Goodman back there with so much speed."

"I think we just ran him out of bounds.  But he needed something like 12 yards."

Goodman raced 50 yards from scrimmage to the Lowell 25-yard-line in the third quarter with his side already ahead 7-0.  Lowell junior Cody Midgett caught him from behind.

"I knew we just needed to make a play then," said senior defensive end John Black.  "We'd been great all year.  I didn't think one play could beat us.  We just needed to make a play.  Get a turnover.  That's what we did.  Lowell can't win by 30 points.  We can't make it easy.  It has to go down to the last kick."

In the last few years, Lowell has gotten to see teams like Concord and Plymouth out of the Northern Lakes Conference as well as Fort Wayne South and Bishop Dwenger from the Summit Athletic Conference.  The Devils have proven that Lake County football is competitive, but everybody at Lowell has come away with respect for the other leagues.

"You can't say anything bad about Fort Wayne football," said Kennedy.  "The top teams they play Snider, Luers and Concordia.  Those were obviously quality teams.  But some of the others weren't quite as good as they usually were.  And once the playoffs started, they obviously had a bit of a cakewalk and we talked about that.  We wanted to extend them into the fourth quarter.  Make them feel uncomfortable.  That maybe we could do something with that.  And that's exactly what happened."

It was obvious that Dwenger and Lowell are two very different schools.  The saints showed up in nice cars and buses, befitting their status as an urban private school.  Bishop Dwenger also had about 80 players, to 56 for Lowell.

"They took about five minutes coming on the field," said Kennedy.  "There were so many of them.  I told the boys, don't worry.  They can only play 11 at a time.  That's why China doesn't win the Olympics every year."

Tickets to the state finals can be purchased from 8:00 a. m. to 12:00 noon Wednesday and Friday (Thursday is a holiday) at Lowell.  Tickets are $10 for Saturday only.  Tickets will be available at the door for the same price.  Lowell championship T-shirts ($12) and sweatshirts ($25) are on sale all week at the high school.

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Revised: November 20, 2007 .