Lowell defeats Hobart 10-7 at Brickie Bowl on Lang's 27-yd FG

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-22-2007

Friday, Sep. 21, 2007,  81 degrees, dry -- Northwest Crossroads Conference at Brickie Bowl, HOBART, IN

1st Qtr:  LOWELL (7-0)  Brandon Grubbe, 79-yard pass from Kurt Monix.  3 plays, 80 yards.  David Lang kick.  10:14 left.
2nd Qtr:   HOBART (7-7)  Bobby James, 6-yard pass from Matt Barras.  2 plays, 25 yards.  Mike Josifovski kick.  0:12 left.
3rd Qtr:  No scoring.
4th Qtr:  LOWELL (10-7)  David Lang, 27-yard field goal.  76 yard drive, 17 plays. 1:09 left.

RUSHING:
HOBART (24 carries, 88 yards)  Andrew Jackson (HB) 16-45 yards; Andrew Huddleston (FB) 3-30 yards; Tony Barras (QB) 5-13 yards. 
LOWELL (44 carries, 148 yards, one fumble) Brandon Grubbe (HB) 33-111 yards, fumble;  Kurt Monix (QB) 8-28 ; Cody Midgett (HB) 2-9;  Johnny Black (FB) 1-0.

PASSING:
HOBART: Matt Barras (QB) 5-13, 62 yards, one interception;
LOWELL: Kurt Monix (QB) 5-6, 173 yards, TD.

RECEIVING:
HOBART: Joey Aleman (WR) 1-24; Jeremy Coons (RB) 2-23; Bobby James (WR) 2-15 yards.
LOWELL: Brandon Grubbe (HB) 2-87 yards;  Jeff Barker (TE) 1-51 yards; TJ Lukasik (WR) 2-35 yards.

TOTAL YARDS:
Hobart:  150 yards, 10 first downs, one turnover;
LOWELL:  321 yards, 12 first downs, one turnover.

HOBART (9-21-2007) - High school football is not so much wins and losses as it is failure and redemption.  For Lowell, three boys who had seen failure, redeemed themselves on Northwest Indiana high school football's greatest stage, leading the Red Devils to a 10-7 win over rival Hobart in a Northwest Hoosier Conference slugfest.

Sophomore running back Brandon Grubbe, whose fumble gave Hobart a late second quarter touchdown, carried 11 times on a 17-play fourth quarter drive with the score tied 7-7.  Senior kicker David Lang, who hit the goal post with a short field goal attempt in the second quarter, lifted the winning field goal from 27 yards away with 1:09 left in the final quarter.

But Grubbe is a good back even with an occasional fumble and David Lang is a good kicker.  One key miss won't change that.  Once in a while you have to ask someone to do something that's a little above what they've been doing.

Lowell senior Danny Remboski, bottled up for two years by injuries and inconsistent play, moved to cornerback and faced Hobart all-stater Bobby James, NW Indiana's premier receiver, who caught 57 passes for 560 yards last year in 12 games.

On this warm night in front of a 'Senior Night' crowd of 4,000, James caught two passes, and while one was for a touchdown, Remboski (6-0, 190), a career fullback-linebacker, battled a future Division I college player to a standoff, giving Lowell a chance to move into a tie for first place in the NWCC.

"I covered him in reps camp (a football summer camp) so I thought I could cover him better than our corners can because they're all all a lot shorter than him," Danny explained.  "Yeah, I'm surprised.  He was much faster than I thought he was.  He caught one touchdown on me but that was a perfect throw."

"I did suggest it but coach (Lowell defensive coordinator Brad) Stewart had an idea I could do it from camp.  He did ask me, 'Are you sure you covered him in reps camp?"
"He just told me to press him and be physical with him so he can't run where ever he wants to."

Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy was proud of the whole scenario.

"Coach Stewart's defense is doing great things this year," he said.  "Dan is the only guy we've got who physically matches up with him.  Bobby James made some plays, but Booby James is going to make plays.  The key is to not let it be consistent.  For the most part, he did a great job."

"He (Remboski) is a great athlete.  He is his own limiting factor.  He stops himself.  We just figured, give him a key job with a lot of responsibility and see how he responds.  We had a plan 'B'.  We had a Plan 'C'.  But they were not nearly as good as 'Plan A'.  Dan did a great job."

But even with the unusual perimeter matchup, Hobart could have won.  The score was tied 7-7 throughout the second half.

"In games with two teams that are pretty evenly matched," said a very disappointed Hobart coach Wally McCormick, "you've got to execute.  You can't do things to hurt yourself like jumping offside on first down four times and fumbling snaps on 3rd-and-2.  Lining up wrong.  In a game like this you have to make plays and not rely on them not to."

Lowell, which split two games with Hobart last fall,  jumped on the Brickies in the first series.  On a 3rd-and -9 from the Red Devil 21-yard-line, Lowell lined up with three wide receivers to one side of the field and sophomore Brandon Grubbe got wide open and grabbed Monix' pass at the Red Devil 40-yard-line.  Grubbe, who rushed for 261 yards in week five against Highland, made a sharp open field change of direction and ran away from the Hobart defense to complete a 79-yard play with just 1:46 gone in the game.

Lowell should have taken a 10-0 lead in the first period after Monix found tall tight end Jeff Barker on a 51-yard pass-and-run play to the Hobart 14-yard-line.  On a 4th-and-1 from the 5-yard-line, senior David Lang came on for a 21-yard field goal.  The kick hit the goal post on the visitors side and bounced back, leaving the score at 7-0.

Hobart tied the game just before halftime after an unforced error.  Grubbe (5-10, 170) moved laterally on a sweep towards the home sidelines and, while trying to change direction, fumbled the ball without being hit.  Hobart linebacker Dan Mathas recovered at the Lowell 25-yard-line with 34 seconds left in the second quarter.

After a 5-yard penalty, Matt Barras, Hobart's new junior quarterback, fired a quick pass to Joey Aleman who raced to the Lowell 6-yard-line.  Barras, on the next play, lobbed a perfect high-arching toss into the corner of the end zone where Bobby James (6-3, 215) made the catch to tie the game.

The third quarter was typical of the Hobart-Lowell meetings in the last half dozen years.  Both teams punted twice as it became obvious the defenses were superior to the offenses on this night.

But then came the final drive, which began when a punt by Mike Josifovski rolled dead at the Lowell 13-yardline.  Grubbe ran for two first downs and Monix hit a 10-yard pass to TJ Lukasik for a third.  Grubbe ran on eight of the last 10 plays and there was a thought he would carry again on 4th-and-1 at 11 yard line when Hobart called time out with 1:14 left.

"The game is hanging in the balance," he said.  "And the kids responded when they had to.  We played some defense with our offense tonight.  Obviously, Hobart, the situation they're in.  This great stadium and a big crowd.  We just had to find a way to win.  Lang missed the kick early, but it came down to him and he didn't miss again."

"This place seems to be pretty good to me," Lang said.  "The key is to forget about the last kick.  You see guys on TV miss two or three kicks in a row because they just can't forget about the last one.  You've just got to go out and do it.  You have to do your job."

Kennedy admitted there was sentiment on the visitors sidelines to try to run for the one yard on fourth down in the final minutes.

"It was a tough decision," Kennedy said.  "Coach (Offensive coordinator Jim) Carlson wanted to go for it.  He wanted to score."

Hobart star runner Andrew Jackson (6-2, 240), who gained 1,700 yards last season, carried just 16 times for 45 yards.  The big senior also lined up at tight end and defensive end.  He has not been 100% healthy this season, but he did play three positions in the game, including defensive tackle during Lowell's final drive.

Hobart's defense, which had three shutouts this season, settled down after giving up 150 yards in the first quarter.  Lowell won the game even though they did not gain more than 10 yards on any play in the second half.

"Neither team loses this type of game," said Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy after his team's 10-7 'old school' win over Hobart Friday night.  "One team just outlasts the other.  The clock runs out and one team has a few more points."

NOTES:  Baring a playoff game, this was Lowell's final game in the 68-year-old Brickie Bowl stadium, the home of four state championship teams in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993 and 18 consecutive sectional champs from 1979-1997.

Hobart is set to move into a new 84 million dollar high school in 2009 and Hobart plays in Lowell next season.  The Lowell coaching staff is always aware that playing Hobart means going against Michael Pickett, Lowell's all-time leading rusher, who gained over 4,000 yards in the early 90s.

"One of our favorite guys is over there," coach Kirk Kennedy said.  "We'd like to find a way to beat them and not have it affect Mike, but that's not possible."

Hobart coach Wally McCormack said the loss of lineman Roy Hall really hurt his side.

"He's a three-year lineman," said the coach, "and he's a big factor in what we do.  He's got a chronic (ankle) problem.  We tape it up and put a brace on it, but if somebody rolls on him, there's nothing we can do.  He kept trying to play but he couldn't."

This game marked the seventh time in five seasons that Lowell has beaten Hobart.  In the last four seasons (counting this one) Hobart is 2-5 against Lowell and 27-7 against everybody else.  Defensive end Joe Carlson, who missed the Highland game with a leg injury, played a little and is expected to return to full time duty soon.  Senior tailback Steffan Peck is also expected to return for the game against undefeated Hammond (6-0), which upset cross-town rival Morton 14-13 on Friday.

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Revised: September 22, 2007 .