Lowell beats Concord 31-21 on road to capture Class 4A, Sectional 10 Championship

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

11-03-2007

Friday, November 2, 2007,  46 degrees, dry - Class 4A, Sectional 10 Championship at ELKHART, IN

1st Qtr:   LOWELL (7-0) Steffan Peck, 27-yard run (13th TD).  75-yard drive, 7 plays.  David Lang kick.  2:34 left.
2nd Qtr:  CONCORD (7-7) Wes Smith, 24 yard run (12th TD).  54-yard drive, 4 plays.  David Yoder kick.  9:14 left.
3rd Qtr:   LOWELL (10-7) David Lang, 31-yard field goal (8th field goal).  34-yard drive, 7 plays.
CONCORD (14-10) Wes Smith, 11-yard run (13th TD).  75-yard drive, 8 plays.  David Yoder kick.  3:56 left.
LOWELL (17-14) Brandon Grubbe, 13-yard run (20th TD).  38-yard drive, 5 plays (after TJ Lukasik's 51-yard kickoff return).  David Lang kick.  2:46 left.
4th Qtr:  CONCORD (21-17) David Yoder, 9-yard run (3rd TD). 74 yards, 13 plays.  David Yoder kick.  10:26 left.
LOWELL (24-21) TJ Lukasik, 72-yard pass from Kurt Monix.  75-yard drive, 3 plays.  9:29 left.
LOWELL (31-21) Brandon Grubbe, 1-yard run (21st TD).  48-yard drive, 5 plays.  4:42 left.

RUSHING:
CONCORD (32 carries, 185 yards, 2 TDs) Wes Smith (HB) 23 carries, 166 yards TD; Greg DeBold (WR-P) 1 carry, 14 yards;
Tyler Huxford (HB) 1-1; David Yoder (QB) 7 carries, 4 yards (5 sacks, minus-22)
LOWELL (38 carries, 210 yards, 3 TDs) Brandon Grubbe (HB) 22 carries, 123 yards, 2 TDs; Steffan Peck (FB) 8 carries, 49 yards, TD;
Kurt Monix (QB) 8 carries, 38 yards.

PASSING:
CONCORD - David Yoder (QB) 18 of 33, 210 yards, 2 interceptions; 
LOWELL - Kurt Monix (QB) 4 of 8, 127 yards; Steffan Peck (FB) 1 of 1, 37 yards.

RECEIVING:
CONCORD - Brandon Nance (WR) 2-33 yards; Brandon Pumel (WR) 2-22 yards, Greg DeBold (WR) 1-10, Wes Smith (HB) 1-0;  Javontae Hence (WR) 12-169 yards.
LOWELL - Jeff Barker (TE) 1-12 yards; TJ Lukasik (WR) 2-104 yards, TD; Eric Roadruck (WR) 2-48 yards.

TOTAL YARDS:
CONCORD (395 yards, 21 1st downs, 3 turnovers);
LOWELL 374 yards, 10 1st downs, 0 turnovers)

DUNLAP, IN (11-02-2007) -  Walking back through the dark Concord parking lot with the still-lighted field off in the distance, the voice of an anonymous visitor could be heard saying:  "That was a really good game.  It was worth coming all this way."

It's supposed to be tough to win the sectional title, but not this tough.  In a 2-1/2 hour battle that featured four second half lead changes, The passing team took control with spectacular runs before the running team won with spectacular passes.  And in the end, four-time defending Sectional 9 champion Lowell ousted two-time defending Sectional 10 champion Concord 31-21 in a memorable contest in Elkhart County.

Lowell's eighth victory in a row sends the Class 4A No. 6 Red Devils to rival Griffith (9-3) for the regional championship next Friday.  But that rematch of Griffith's 29-28 overtime win at Lowell in September won't be like this one.  Lowell never did stop Concord, allowing almost 400 yards.  But the Devils rallied and counter-punched most of the second half, finally taking control on two big-yardage plays.

Trailing 21-17 with less than ten minutes to play, the Devils faced a 3rd-and-7 and a moment of truth at the Lowell 28-yard-line.  A punt here and the Minutemen might quickly make it 28-17.  But Kurt Monix rolled out and drifted towards the visitor's sidelines, firing a lob pass over the head of 6-foot-4 tight end Jeff Barker.  But senior TJ Lukasik was behind Barker, by himself.  Lukasik, who inadvertently gave Concord the go-ahead TD by roughing the kicker on a missed field goal attempt on the second play of the fourth quarter, caught the ball and ran away from the defense for a 72-yard go-ahead score with 9:24 left in the game.

After a sack forced a fumble, recovered by Barker at the Lowell 48-yard-line, senior Steffan Peck took a pitchout, again towards the Lowell sidelines.  Peck suddenly pulled up and fired a lob pass to senior Eric Roadruck for a 37-yard gain to the Concord 11-yard-line.  Two plays later, sophomore halfback Brandon Grubbe's second TD of the game made it 31-21 Lowell with 4:42 left in the game.

"They did a good job taking away our run to the point where we had to try some other things," said coach Kirk Kennedy, who was among those of us who were a little worn out by the track-meet nature (it was 10-7 at halftime) of the second half.  The first one just looked like it was overthrown to Barker because he came off his route.  It was intended for TJ all along."

"We had to try some things," added Kennedy.  "The pass figured to be there.  We were fortunate to come out on top.  Coach (Lowell offensive coordinator Jim) Carlson made that call. Hey, you can either tighten up and play not to lose or you can take a chance and try to win a ballgame."

Nobody will ever accuse Concord of being timid.  The Minutemen ran a fake punt on the first series of the first quarter and the game was on.  Junior QB David Yoder (6-3,175), very durable under a heavy rush all night, threw 33 passes out of a four wide receiver, one back set.  Speedy junior receiver JaVontae Hence, one-on-one against Lowell's top cornerback TJ Lukasik, caught 12 passes for 169 yards, although he never got to the end zone.  Shifty halfback Wes Smith (5-9, 155), who amazingly broke tackle after Red Devil tackle, gained 166 yards on 23 carries against the spread-out Lowell defense, scored two highlight-reel touchdowns where he left Lowell tackles on the ground and dived high into the end zone to the roar of the green-clad Concord crowd.

The Devils knew all about Concord from playing them the last two seasons, but this was a new breed of Minutemen and Lowell was very impressed, especially with Hence.

"That's the best receiver I have ever had to cover," said Lukasik, who roller-coastered from hero to goat through out the 46-degree night in front of 3,000 fans.  "I just tried to keep him in front of me."

"They win games like that," said Lowell's David Lang.  "They have a high-powered offense.  We know that by now.  They're tough to beat."

Lowell scored first on a 27-yard run by Steffan Peck late in the first quarter after QB Kurt Monix had gained 19 yards on an option run.  Lowell went to the option early because they knew it would be tough to run inside against Concord senior tackle Kyle Magnuson (6-9, 305).  Lukasik intercepted a pass in the final minute of the first quarter to stop one Concord drive, but the Minutemen scored when Smith, who averaged 7.2 yards a carry over the first 11 games, gained 46 yards on four consecutive running plays out of the same four wide receiver formation.

Lang's eighth field goal of the year put Lowell up 10-7 in the third quarter, but Concord kept coming.  Lowell used a four man line and one linebacker against Concord's four wide receiver formation, and it could not contain Smith on the 'draw' play.  Lowell defenders would race towards the QB Yoder and Smith would break a tackle and gain good yards.  Four consecutive runs by the little senior gave Concord a 14-10 lead with 3:56 left in the third quarter.

Lukasik ran the ensuing kickoff 51 yards back to the Concord 38-yard line and the Devils scored four plays later on a 13-yard run by Grubbe, building a 17-14 lead with 2:46 left in the third quarter.

Immediately Concord rallied.  Yoder connected on a deep crossing pattern to Hence, a 4.5 sprinter who was finally dragged down by Lukasik at the Lowell 35 after a 39-yard gain.  On the second play of the fourth quarter, Yoder attempted a game-tying 32-yard field goal that went wide.  But Yoder was knocked down by Lukasik, trying to block the boot.  One play later Yoder broke three Lowell tackles on a quarterback draw, scoring a 9-yard TD to put the home team ahead 21-17 with 10:26 left in the game.

It was then that Monix found Lukasik for the 72-yard TD and some redemption.

"After I roughed the kicker, and then they score, I had to do something," said Lukasik.  "That was the worst feeling I've ever had.  On the touchdown pass, I don't know if Barker was supposed to be there.  It's amazing."

"Five sectionals?  It's the tradition.  We just didn't want to let it down."

Lukasik and Danny Remboski were among those who had to battle four wide receivers on every play for Concord.

"Coach told us we'd have to be ready," Remboski said.  "He made it tough on us in practice this week.  This makes the drive back home a lot better."

Lang said that the fact that Lowell has been banished to the road (they could host the semistate only if the foe is top-ranked Bishop Dwenger) is not as big a factor them as it is to us watching them.

"No, not really," said Lang, who kicked in his third successful sectional championship run.  "We just try to cancel all that crap out.  The negative things.  We had a big crowd here.  We have a good traveling crowd.  A lot of people follow us."

As much as the 2005 state title means to the school, Lowell will probably win another state championship before they again win five sectionals in a row.  Of all the schools in Northwest Indiana, only Griffith, which won five consecutive sectionals from 1990-1995 and Hobart, which won 19 sectionals in a row from 1977-1997, has won the sectional more than five years in a row.

"That's one of our goals," said David Lang.  "At the start of the season.  As soon as we come into 2-a-days.  That's what we shoot for from the start of 2-a-day (workouts)."

"We've had a nice run of talent," said Kennedy.  "We've got a great group of young men and they just keep it rolling.  We haven't made changes in what we do.  The kids keep doing a great job and each one you win, it's harder to win the next one.  Especially this year doing all the traveling."

"We've had the ability to focus on the field and forget about things we can't control."

Now they can forget about four wide receiver offenses and 200-mile round trips.  For at least one week.

SECTIONAL NOTES:  Lowell's David Lang, who played in Lowell's 30-23 win over Concord in November of 2005, said that it wasn't the second time he's visited the eastern Elkhart County area for a Lowell football game.

"I haven't missed a Lowell game since about 1993.  I remember us driving to Goshen (a 24-8 Lowell loss) back in the day.  We didn't score until the end.  It was cold, I tell you that."

Concord's JaVontae Hence finished his junior season with an unofficial 1,093 yards on 73 receptions.  Junior QB David Yoder closed out with 188 of 310, 2,474 yards, 23 TDs and 11 interceptions.  It was not lost on Lowell that they could draw this team in the sectional in 2008 as well.

"Can we do the next realignment a little early?" asked Lowell defensive coordinator Brad Stewart.  "At the all-star game last summer there was a long debate about which conference was the best.  All the Lake County people think it's the leagues back there."

"But I was trying to tell them about the Northern Lakes Conference.  There's no weak teams.  Plymouth was 5-5 and they played us tough.  Northwood won state two years ago and they were 3-6.  For Concord to go undefeated in this league last year (2006), they had to have a great team."

Lowell's linebacker-turned-defensive back Danny Remboski was an unsung hero.  Concord senior Greg LeBold (6-3, 195), who entered the game with 718 yards on 45 catches, Remboski shut out LeBold until the final minute.

"I just tried to be physical with them," smiled the Lowell senior.  "They're basketball players.  I never thought I'd be a defensive back this year.  Never."

Lowell has won five consecutive sectional titles and 15 consecutive sectional games.  Heritage Hills and Bishop Chatard have won seven consecutive sectionals.  Carmel has won 21 sectionals but has never won five in a row.  Ben Davis won 10 sectionals in a row from 1995 to 2004.  Penn won 11 sectionals in a row from 1995-2005.

Lowell sophomore Brandon Grubbe unofficially has a total of 1,473 yards on 220 carries.  Senior Steffan Peck has 815 yards on 180 carries.  In the state tournament era (1973-present) Lowell has never had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season.

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Revised: November 03, 2007 .