Lowell capitalizes on five Panther turnovers, stuns arch-rival Griffith 33-0

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Griffith (1-2)	0	0	0	0	0
LOWELL (3-0)	14	0	6	13	33

Friday, Sept. 5, 2003, 62 degrees, no wind; Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) opener in Lowell

1st Q: LOWELL (7-0) Justin Henley, 13-yard run (4th TD) Korey Kildares kick
18 yards, 1 play, 1 penalty, 11:35 left.

LOWELL (14-0) Toby Goetz, 2-yard run (3rd TD) Korey Kildares kick
14 yards, 3 plays (after Jim Jeffries recovered Rich Lehmann's fumble at the Griffith 18.)
1:50 left.
2nd Q: No scoring.
3rd Q: LOWELL (20-0) John Huseman (1st TD catch), 23-yard halfback pass from Justin Henley (1st TD pass). Kick wide. 61-yard drive, 8 plays.
4th Q: LOWELL (27-0) Chuck Thompson, 42-yard run (2nd TD).
59 yards drive, 3 plays. 9:24 left.
LOWELL (33-0) Toby Goetz (4th TD, 1st TD catch), 12-yard pass from Chuck Thompson. (2nd TD pass). 60 yard drive, 5 plays. 4:35 left.

LOWELL (9-5-2003) - Anybody who said they KNEW Lowell would beat Griffith as easily as 33-0 last Friday is not being sincere. But after beating the perennially strong Panthers in each of the last two seasons, anybody who continues to be surprised by Lowell winning is clearly not paying attention.

Lowell dropped a bomb on Griffith Friday the likes of which they rarely are forced to accept. While the Panthers (1-2) did a lot of the damage to themselves, Lowell acted like a championship team. The undefeated Devils jumped up in Griffith's face from the opening kickoff and overwhelmed the defending two-time 4A Sectional champions 33-0 before a capacity crowd of over 3,000 in the 2003 Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) opener.

"This was just our night," said 12th year Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy, who is 6-10 against the Panthers but 5-4 in the last five years. "What can you say? We got a lot of breaks. We took advantage of a lot of Griffith mistakes. It was just our night."

In retrospect, it was over in the first quarter. Red Devil junior Scott Schulz took the opening kickoff and raced 77 up the center of the field before being knocked out of bounds at the Griffith 18-yard-line. Griffith was called for an offside penalty before Lowell could run a play. From the 13-yard line, Justin Henley took a pitchout toward the home sideline and ran to the flag for a 13-yard touchdown just 25 seconds into the game.

Griffith, which scored 69 points in the first two weeks, had a drive stall at the Lowell 39 yard line before key sequence.

After Lowell's first punt, Panther senior Jack Kosinski (12 carries, 81 yards) gained a first down at the Panther 34-yard-line. Griffith quarterback Rich Lehmann, who would later leave the game after taking some hard hits, fired a swing pass to Kosinski, who broke two tackles and carried the ball to the Lowell 41-yard line. But the play was nullified by a holding call. On the very next play, Lehmann fumbled and Lowell's Jim Jeffries recovered at the Griffith 14-yard-line.

Three plays later, Tony Goetz (8 carries, 31 yards) pushed his way over the goal line from two yards away and Lowell led 14-0 in the final minute of the first quarter.

The second quarter was bleak for both teams. Lowell played conservatively, which is the Devils' nature, but Griffith punted three times and committed three penalties in the second period alone.

Three plays into the third quarter, Lehmann fumbled again when he was overrun from behind by Jeffries on a slow-developing option play. Huseman recovered the ball at the 50-yard line. Lehmann left after that big hit and did not return.

Lowell drove 61 yards for the go-ahead TD late in the third period. Henley started the drive with a 28-yard run off left guard. From the Griffith 23-yard-line, Henley took a pitchout and rolled near the home sideline, throwing a wobbly pass over tight end Jim Jeffries, who appeared to be the intended receiver. Huseman came back toward the line of scrimmage and made a diving catch on the goal line to give Lowell a 20-0 lead.

"There wasn't really anybody open," said Henley after the game. "But I threw it anyway. You've got to give all the credit to Huseman. He made a great catch."

Griffith, playing without their starting QB, gained a couple of first downs but had another drive stop at the Lowell 41. The Red Devils then went 59 yards in three plays. Thompson, the senior quarterback, started toward the home sideline on an option run and, when Griffith overcompensated to guard against Henley and Goetz, Thompson cut back toward the visitors sidelines and outran the Panther defense to make it 27-0 with 9:24 left in the game.

"Chuck Thompson made some plays tonight," said Kennedy. "I'm very proud of him for his leadership. Our offensive line did a great job. You've got to remember that anything we do we get against a defense that is loaded up against the run. When we're able to do it anyway that's just a great credit to them. I'm proud of our coaching staff for a great game plan and I'm proud of our kids for executing it."

This was a dominating performance for the Devils, more defensively than on offense where Lowell only gained 263 total yards, led by Justin Henley's 63 yards on 10 carries.

But the Panthers, who were 10-3 last year and barely lost 32-20 to Class 5A power Chesterton seven days earlier, fumbled three times, threw two interceptions and gained just 158 total yards.

"We did a heckuva job finishing," said veteran Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy. "Which is something we've talked about. We got some big plays late. Field position was crucial. Anytime you give them a long field to travel, you're either going to A.) Give up a lot of yards when they break a big play, or B.) You're going to get a short field when they punt. They've (Griffith) had nights like this but not every often."

You haven't heard the last of Griffith. The Panthers were shut out 10-0 last year by Hobart in August but they ended the season with a 10-3 record. They have far too many quality offensive players to have a losing season. But they won't beat Lowell in a rematch because Griffith has been moved to Class 3A this season while Lowell remains as 4A. The 33-point verdict will stand between these two longtime rivals for a full 12 months.

"This has been a long time coming," said Kennedy. "We've been on the wrong end of this more times than we'd care to remember."

DEVIL NOTES: The 33-0 win may be the first time Lowell has ever shut out Griffith. The Devils had never before shut out Griffith in coach Kirk Kennedy's 12 years on Route 2. This was Lowell's second shutout in a row after the Aug. 29 win 42-0 at Calumet. In 2000, Lowell shut out Lake Station 76-0, Twin Lakes 7-0 and Highland 9-0 on three consecutive weeks.

The Griffith game is not usually a barometer of Lowell success. In 1993, Lowell beat Griffith 38-14 and the Devils went on to a 10-1 season. But in 1994, Lowell lost to Griffith 30-0 and STILL went on to an 11-2 season. Everybody has a game plan for every team but Lowell clearly has a special defense they play against Griffith, a team that runs the option and passes less than 10 times a game. To the naked eye, it appears to be a six-man line with two cornerbacks and three linebackers. But it's not that simple. At times, Lowell linebackers jump up on the line and down linemen jump back into linebacker spots.

"It's a version of the 4-3 where we invert out safeties," said Kennedy. "And we give them different keys because they audibilize at the line of scrimmage. We just want to give them some extra things to look at. But they've seen it before because we always play it. Our defensive ends are very key to shutting down the option. We've gotten real good play from Jim Jeffries and Chris Marzotto."

Lowell has seven or eight players playing both ways, something that coach Kennedy actually likes.

"I played both ways when I way in school," he says. "Why would you only want to play half a game?
We don't have many who play every play. Say we have a two-way tackle, we have a three-man rotation at that position. So, nobody plays every play. We bust their butt in conditioning. We're not going to change what we're doing. These kids understand that. When was the last time you saw a Lowell quarterback playing defense? Even when we had (`94 graduate) Paul Lacy who could have done it. But these guys want to play both ways."

Lowell now plays a critical game from a pride standpoint. Morton trailed Lowell 21-6 in the fourth quarter in last year's sectional semifinal playoff game in Hammond. The Governors scored three fourth quarter TDs with the help of three Lowell fumbles and won 24-21, a devastating Red Devil defeat. Lowell carries a 3-0 record back to Morton for a rematch Friday.

"Just like tonight was our night," said Kennedy Friday, "that night was their night. They've got four starters back in the line. They're just starting to break through. They may not be getting the respect they deserve. They can score a lot of points quickly."

Lake Athletic Conference (Black Division) Week one (9-5-3)

Andrean (3-0, 1-0) 35, Morton (2-1, 0-1) 0
Morton is simply not in Andrean's class, but it is a surprise that the Governors did not even score. The Governors went 10-2 last year without beating a really good team and, despite mega-hype locally, they may be as weak as many suspect. Andrean met a challenge here and soundly rejected a challenger. These are the next two opponents for undefeated Lowell. Andrean will go to 4-0 Friday in a mismatch against Hammond.

Hobart (1-2, 1-0) 49, Hammond (0-3, 0-1) 15
Hammond is on a downhill slide that almost certainly will end up at 0-9. This could be the Cats worst year ever in football. Hobart and Morton were the only league teams Hammond could possibly beat and Hobart crushed them. This should be a confidence-builder for the Brickies, who should note that the two teams that have beaten Hobart are Portage, now 3-0 and Crown Point, now 2-1.

Munster (3-0, 1-0) 14, Highland (2-1, 0-1) 9
Munster had the defense to shut down an arch rival, but there are still questions about them going to Griffith in week four. Highland lost to Munster by seven TDs in 2002 so clearly, they have improved. But the Trojans must keep the intensity up for the visit (Sept. 12) from Hobart.

2003: LOWELL (3-0, 1-0 LAC)
8-22: 20-13 Crown Point (2-1)
8-29: 42-0 at Calumet (1-2)
9-5: 33-0 Griffith (1-2)
9-12: at Morton (2-1)
9-19: Andrean (3-0)
9-26: Hammond (0-3)
10-3: at Munster (3-0)
10-10: at Hobart (1-2)
10-17: Highland (2-1)
10-24: Sectional 9 quarterfinal vs. Hobart, Highland, Munster, Gary West Side, Lew Wallace,
Gary Roosevelt, or Kankakee Valley.
10-31: Sectional 9 semifinals (7 p.m.)
11-7: Sectional 9 championship game (7 p.m.)