Griffith upends Lowell with 29-28 win in Overtime

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-10-2007

Friday, Sep. 7, 2007,  81 degrees, humid -- Northwest Crossroads Conference at Lowell, IN

1st Qtr:  LOWELL (7-0)  Steffan Peck, 2-yard run.  52-yard, 9 play drive.  David Lang kick.  6:29 left.
GRIFFITH (7-7)  Kyle Najar, 5-yard run.  80-yard, 6 play drive.  3:16 left.
2nd Qtr:  GRIFFITH (14-7)  Derek Hitt, 2-yard run. 46-yard, 7 play drive.  1:51 left.
3rd Qtr:  LOWELL (14-14)  Ben Rigby 16-yard fumble return.  6:38 left.
LOWELL (21-14)  Jacob Belt, 36-yard option pass from Eric Roadruck.  73-yard, 6 play drive.  2:11 left.
4th Qtr:  GRIFFITH (21-21)  Derek Hitt, 3-yard option run.  45-yard, 4 play drive.  0:38 left.
Overtime:  LOWELL (28-21)  Steffan Peck, 1-yard (4th down) run.  David Lang kick.
GRIFFITH (29-28)  Derek Hitt 1-yard (4th down) option keeper.  2-point option run by Derek Hitt.

RUSHING
LOWELL (31 carries, 101 yards,  2 TDs)  Steffan Peck (HB) 24 caries, 100 yards, 2 TDs;  Kurt Monix (QB) 7- 1 (sack -minus-6);  TJ Lukasik (WB) 1-0
GRIFFITH  (47 carries, 211 yards,  3 TDs)  David Alexander (HB-WB) 9-67 yards;  Kyle Najar (FB) 13-68 yards; Derek Hitt (QB) 23-65, 3 TDs, fumble; Rex Cullen (HB) 2-11.

PASSING
LOWELL-  Kurt Monix (QB) 3-10, 35 yards 0 TDs, one INT; Eric Roadruck (WR) 1-1, 36 yards, one TD;
GRIFFITH - Derek Hitt (QB) 7-of-10, 102 yards.  David Alexander (HB-WR) 1-1, 37 yards.

RECEIVING
LOWELL - Jeff Barker (TE) 2-29; Johnny Black (FB) 1-6, Jake Belt (WR) 1-36, TD; 
GRIFFITH - David Alexander (WR-DB) 5-85 yards; Mark Blount (WR) 1-14 yards; David Galiher (WR) 1-37 yards; Doug Ashenbaugh (TE) 1-2 yards.

TURNOVERS
LOWELL (1) interception; GRIFFITH (3) all fumbles.

TOTAL YARDS
LOWELL - 172 yards, 6 first downs, one turnover;
GRIFFITH - 350 yards, 16 first downs, 3 turnovers.

LOWELL (9-07-2007) - You couldn't have Lowell and Griffith games like this every seven days.  There wouldn't be anybody left.  These Griffith-Lowell games sure don't leave much for the next week.  Friday night, Lowell was undefeated and Griffith was 1-2 but that only made the Panthers play with a desperation that gave them an edge.  A wild, physical, heated battle between ancient rivals ended when junior Panther quarterback Derek Hitt ran the option, kept it himself and scooted into the south end zone at Lowell, handing the Devils a 29-28 overtime defeat.

"This was a great game," said veteran Griffith coach Russ Radtke.  "It's just a great game between two teams.  We were going a little crazy after the game.  But we were just getting excited abut our players.  We overcame adversity.  There were some calls we thought went against us but even though we were getting excited, the kids still got the job done."

"I hope their coaches understand that it's nothing personal.  I know them very well.  They thought I was celebrating too much.  For they're to get upset by that, I don't know.  I think they'd have done the same thing if they had won."

There was a wild finish.  Trailing 21-14, Griffith drove 79 yards in 17 plays only to have Hitt stopped on a 4th-and-goal at the Lowell 1-yard-line with 1:52 left in the game.  But Lowell couldn't move the ball and an incomplete pass on third down stopped the clock.  David Lang's punt only carried to the Lowell 40-yard-line.

With 1:20 to play, David Alexander took a pitchout and launched a high-arching pass to Ryan Galiher (6-1, 181) who won a push-and-shove battle with Lowell's TJ Lukasik (5-8, 155), grabbing the ball at the Red Devil's 8-yard-line.  Two plays later, Hitt, who had thrown five interceptions in his first three games, ran the option to tie the game 21-21.  Radtke decided to go for a one-point conversion and junior Jeff Melton made his third of three extra point boots on the night.

In overtime, Griffith won the toss and allowed Lowell to take its 4-plays-from-the-10 series first.  Lowell gave the ball to leading rusher Steffan Peck four times and he scored on 4th-and-1 to make it 28-21.

Griffith moved the ball to the 1-yard-line on three runs and on 4th-and-1, Hitt stepped towards right tackle and handed the ball to Kyle Najar, who was immediately hit by defensive end Jeff Barker and linebacker Justin Juarez.  What happened next is open to interpretation, but as Najar, who did not immediately go down, was hit, QB Derek Hitt pulled the ball back away from his fullback and circled around right end to score the crucial TD, making the score 28-27.

Lowell began to rush the field feeling the game was over.  The Devils thought that Najar was downed well short of the goal line.  But the essence of Griffith's option attack is that you can't see who has the ball and that the QB and Fullback almost have simultaneous possession.  Najar did appear to be stopped, but the whistle never blew.

"I saw their entire offensive formation get pushed back," said Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy.  "I saw a stop of forward progress.  But what can you do?  The officials didn't see it that way. But Griffith always gets a slow whistle because of the option.  It's nothing they (the Panthers) do intentionally.  Nobody (no referee) wants to blow a play dead.  And if you're looking at one officials call to decide the outcome of the game, you're looking for excuses.  The fact is, we shouldn't have been in that situation."

With the score 28-27, Griffith kept Melton on the sidelines and went to win the game.  After running the option to the left most of the night, Hitt ran the option to the right side, faking the fullback dive to Najar and running around end for the two point conversion to make it 29-28.

The finish was very reminiscent of a game in 2002 when Griffith scored to cut a one TD Lowell lead to 21-20 in the final minute.  The Panthers' two-point conversion was stopped at the one yard line on that night.

"It's about time we won one like this," said Radtke.  "We lost to Tipton (in the regional final in 1994) just like that.  I thought our defense made our key assignments.  They only scored on our fumbles.  They ran a playground play to score one TD and we ran a play ground play to get back in the game.  I guess that's fair."

Playing in front of a capacity crowd of about 2,500, Lowell (3-1) was spirited, but really didn't deserve to win this game.  The Devils scored on their first possession and were dominated statistically after that.  Lowell punted five times and had just eight-first downs against a Panther defense, led by two way senior stars Doug Ashenbaugh and David Alexander.  Griffith ran to their left all night behind Brad "Big Country" Hardin, a 6-foot-7, 255-pound sophomore who transferred in from Kouts this year.  Lowell had a string of 11 consecutive scoreless quarters spanning shutouts of Morton and Kankakee Valley, but Griffith was strong up front and consistently pushed Lowell back.

Griffith also was able to isolate Alexander (6-3, 173) on Lukasik and lob the ball high to take advantage of the receiver's six-inch height advantage.  Derek Hitt, who had only 11 completions and five interceptions coming in, was 7-of-10 for 101 yards and no interceptions.

Lowell still can't find tight end Jeff Barker consistently in the passing game.  Barker caught back-to-back passes in the fourth quarter but those were his only two grabs of the night.  In fairness, on this night, Alexander covered Barker on many plays.  The two seemed to have some interesting conversations.

Lowell had only three possessions in the entire first half, but Panther mistakes almost gave Lowell a decisive victory.  Trailing 14-7 in the third quarter, Griffith botched a 'direct snap' to the speedy Alexander and Lowell linebacker Ben Rigby picked up the fumble and ran for the game-tying touchdown with 6:38 left in the third quarter.

After Lowell stopped Griffith on fourth down at the Lowell 27 with 4:40 left in the third quarter, Lowell moved the ball to the Panther 36 with the help of a 29-yard run by Peck.  Then, Lowell reached into the trick bag for a play.  QB Kurt Monix pitched the ball to senior receiver Eric Roadruck, on what looked like a WR reverse.  Roadruck then stopped and threw a high-arching pass to junior Jacob Belt, behind the Griffith defense down the home sidelines.  Belt slowed up to catch the ball and then dragged a defender into the end zone to make the score 21-14 Lowell with 2:11 left in the third quarter.

Three minutes later, Alexander fumbled a punt at the Griffith 25-yard-line.  Lowell could have iced the game here but they didn't.  On a 4th-and-1 from the 15-yard line, David Lang's 32-yard field goal that would have made the score 24-14 with 9:21 to play sailed wide to the right.

"I'd do that again," said Kennedy, about the decision not to go for a first down on 4th-and-1.  "We wanted to go ahead by more than one score.  It sure wasn't like we were dominating the line of scrimmage and opening up cavernous holes.  I'd make that same decision again."

But had Lowell won, they'd have stolen the victory away from a team that ran the ball all night on them.  And this was a Lowell team that had not allowed more than 125 yards rushing in any of its first three games.  On a very unpleasant weather night with temperatures in the high 70s and mosquitoes biting everyone, Griffith survived its mistakes and gained almost twice as many yards as the more experienced Devils.

"It comes down to realizing we're in a dogfight," said Kennedy.  "You have to rise to the level of your opposition, not just in execution but in enthusiasm and intensity.  We got beat in those intangibles.  There were spurts where it looked like we were taking charge.  But, in the long haul, they wanted it more than us and you saw the result."

DEVIL NOTES:  Lowell's loss pales to what they'll lose if the injury report is not good.  Starting defensive end Joe Carlson, starting linebacker Danny Remboski and top sophomore running/defensive back prospect Brandon Grubbe all left the game with injuries and did not return.

"When you're looking at the knee area, it's never good," he said.  "But we'll evaluate them Saturday."

"I don't know what happened to Crown Point when we played them," Kennedy said.  "We weren't very good at Morton.  Maybe we like this running around, using our speed and making arm tackles.  I told them that we're at a fork in the road right now.  We knew they were 1-2 and they didn't want to be 1-3.  We knew they'd come down here and give us a battle. There were times when we stepped up our effort and played them evenly.  But there were times when we didn't seem too concerned about it.  We can let this define us as a football team or we reflect on it and come back stronger."

Lowell has become a target since the 2005 state title season and when they moved into the top-10 in August, it gave foes more reason to focus on them.

"We're getting a little notoriety around the state and everybody wants to beat us a little more," sad Kennedy.  "But that's okay.  It's better than the alternative."

"Our tough schedule put us where we are now," said Radtke, who is proud of scheduling 5A power Merrillville when most region teams didn't want to.  "We're playing our league schedule and throwing Morton in there helps.  I'm just glad our team came alive.  We'll be a tough team from here on out, I can guarantee that."

"It doesn't do any good for us to play someone we'll walk all over.  Our QB's getting better and better.  He made a couple of mistakes tonight, he still came back.  On that touchdown, thank God the referee didn't blow the whistle.  He pulled the ball back out, but the only person who saw it was the referee on that side.  Thank God nobody blew that play dead."

Griffith kicked the extra point trailing 21-20 with 38 seconds left, but they went for two trailing 28-27 in overtime.  Why coach?

"Because I listened to my coaches on the first one," sad Radtke, "and I did what I wanted to do in the overtime.  We couldn't keep going.  When we won the toss in overtime, we couldn't go first because if we didn't score, they'd just line up and kick a field goal."

Griffith ran to their left most of the night and the success was why they had 58 offensive plays to Lowell's 42.

"Big county played left tackle and Eddie Boncela played center," said Radtke.  "And they made a difference.  Bo (offensive coordinator and Russ's son Bo) changed up the option a little and it worked for us."

Radtke's son and Bo's brother Shane is the defensive back coach for Griffith.

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Revised: September 11, 2007 .