Devils beat Kougars 41-7, retain 'Milk Can,' will face Hobart in Sectional Final
	A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith 10-29-2005

Friday, Oct. 28, 2005,  49 degrees, dry - Class 4A, Sectional 9 semifinal at Lowell

1st Qtr:  LOWELL  (7-0)  Scott Gray, 13-yard run.  66-yard drive, 3 plays. Doug Lang kick. 11:09 left.
LOWELL (14-0)  Scott Gray, 3-yard run. 63-yard drive, 11 plays. Lang kick. 3:30 left.

2nd Qtr:  No scoring.
3rd Qtr:  LOWELL (21-0) Scott Gray, 32-yard run. 47-yard drive,  5 plays.  Doug Lang kick. 6:03 left.
LOWELL (27-0)  Scot Gray, 10-yard pass from Jimmy Ritter. 29-yard drive, 5 plays.  Kick wide. 2:19 left.
4th Qtr:  LOWELL (34-0) Jeff Clemens, 58-yard run. 58-yard drive, one play. Doug Lang kick.  11:43 left.
KANKAKEE VALLEY (7-34) Dustin Wilson, 85-yard run with fumble. Zach Schafer kick. 6:32 left.
LOWELL (41-7) Steffan Peck, 11-yard run. 50-yard drive, 5 plays. Lang kick. 3:51 left.

TOTAL YARDS: 

LOWELL - 419; Kankakee Valley - 98

TURNOVERS: 

LOWELL - 1 (one fumble); KV - 4 (2 fumbles)

FIRST DOWNS:  

LOWELL 23;  KV  5

PASSING:  

Alex Byers (KV) 5 of 8, 61 yards, one INT
David Walstra (KV) 0- for 1, one INT
Jimmy Ritter (LOWELL)  8 of 12, 75 yards one TD one INT

RECEIVING:

Zach Schafer (KV) 1-38 yards; Dustin Wilson (KV) 3-16 yards; Gary Jones (KV) 1-7 yards;   

Jeff Clemens (L) 4-37 yards; Scott Gray (L) 1-19, TD; Steffan Peck (L) 1-7 yards; 

Michael Dowling (L) 1-10 yards; Chris Lampa (L) 1-11 yards.

RUSHING:

(KV - 28 carries, 37 yards) Adam McDaniel (KV) 8-18 yards, fumble;  Dustin Wilson (KV) 2-26 yards;  David Walstra (KV) 2-21 yards; Alex Byers (KV) 10 (-20 yards);  Garry Jones (KV) 1-2 yards;  Matt Oliver (KV) 1 (-10 yards);

Lukas Palmer (KV) 3-4 yards, fumble.

(LOWELL - 49 carries, 344 yards) Scott Gray (L)  21-172 yards, 3 TDs;  Steffan Peck (L) 11-62 yards, TD;
Jeff Clemens (L) 3-64 yards, TD;  Max Znika (L) 6-29 yards; Jimmy Ritter (L) 4-12 yards; Chris Lampa (L) 1-1 yard.

LOWELL (10-28-2005) - To be totally honest, when Kankakee Valley showed up with just 29 players in uniform, you pretty much knew Lowell would win. 

The Kougars' six game winning streak in the Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) Blue division hid the fact that, well, they played in the LAC Blue Division. Kankakee Valley's seven wins was the most for the school in 21 years, but the quality of their schedule made it somewhat of a mirage. The second place team in one of the state's worst leagues stepped up in class and got blasted 41-7 at Lowell Friday night in the Class 4A sectional nine semifinals.

The game actually wasn't as close as the blowout score indicates.  Lowell led 7-0 after 51 seconds and 14-0 at the quarter.  After some stumbling  around in a scoreless second period Lowell scored the first three times they had the ball in the second half to build a 34-0 edge.  The Devils, who won for the sixth week in a row, played well.  But KV was overmatched against the two-time defending Class 4A Sectional nine champs.

Nobody's going to win a 4A playoff game against a quality foe with just 29 players.  Even if one of the boys, Dustin Wilson, is an elite athlete who had gained 1,100 yards rushing with blinding speed.

QB Jimmy Ritter #7 hands off to RB Scott Gray #6 in Class 4A, Sectional 9 semifinal win, 41-7 over Kankakee Valley at The Inferno, 10-28-2005.

Ritter #7 prepares to throw over the Kougar's David Walstra #18 in the Red Devils' sectional semifinal win over KV, 10-28-2005.

QB Alex Byers #4 is pulled down by one Lowell defender while Ethan Winel #44 closes in to finish the tackle in the Red Devils 41-7 win over Kankakee Valley, 10-28-2005. (All photos by Mark Smith.)

Lowell's Scott Gray #6 was an offensive workhorse for the Devils with  21 carries for 172 yards rushing and 3 TDs against KV on 10-28-2005.

"Coach told us to kill the head and kill the body," said defensive end Chris Lampa, who had a hand in three quarterback sacks. "We saw on tape that No. 12 was the head of that team. He's the main focus of what they do. We thought that if we could shut him down, we could slow down what they do."

Wilson (5-11, 170) a junior halfback, was held to 26 yards on six carries and 16 yards on three receptions. The KV scoring leader did score his 27th touchdown of the season on a fumble recovery and 85-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile Lowell's leading scorer senior halfback Scott Gray gained a robust 172 yards on 21 carries. Gray broke a 51-yard run on the first play of the game and he scored four TDs overall behind a line that clearly won the line of scrimmage. Gray, who carried only once in the fourth quarter, has run 227 times for 1,619 yards and 22 TDs in 11 games. On this night Lowell had 344 yards rushing on 47 carries.  The Kougars (7-4), who had not defeated anyone with a wining record, were simply not strong enough to defend against Lowell's quick hitting running plays.

"Except for the second quarter," noted coach Kirk Kennedy, whose team scored exactly 41 points for the fourth time in six weeks, "we played well. It's good to be playing well at this time of the year. What makes me feel good is to see the kids have success. It matters to me, but for me to get satisfaction, I need to see the kids experience success for all the hard work they put in."

"For me, the difference between success and failure is not as great as it is for them. They're the ones who are making the memories or not making the memories. I've got mine. It's time for them to make theirs."

A good example of that is Gray, who grew up watching Lowell players wearing the No. 6 (1,000-yard rushers Justin Henley, Mike French) run for thousands of yards on chilly Friday nights.  After waiting behind all-stater Toby Goetz in 2004, Gray was named the starter for 2005 only to see the defending sectional champs drop to 1-4 through a combination of tough foes, injuries and poor offense. Gray, quarterback Jimmy Ritter and the offensive line epitomize this team.  Somewhat ineffective in August and September, now that every game is a must-win game, they are lifting their level of play to where it needs to be.

"It's made a big difference," added coach Kennedy. "Putting (Ryan) King in the middle and putting Randy Layman at right tackle.  The emergence of Scott Gary. Making big plays. Playing with confidence. When he fumbled in the first game I just told him it's a long season and he's our man and he's going to have to figure it out and start getting it done. Plus, the guys up front are doing a better job."

The Devils began the second half by scoring at will against the tiring Kougars. A short punt led to a 47-yard drive and a 32-yard cutback TD run by Gray with 6:03 left in the third quarter. After Lampa recovered a fumble by KV's Alex Byers at the Kougar 29, Lowell scored in five plays with a 10-yard swing pass from Ritter to Gray, lighting up the scoreboard. After Lampa intercepted kicker David Walstra on a fake punt, Jeff Clemens ran over a Kougar defensive back on a 58-yard scoring run on the first play of the final quarter.

It would be fair to call this a low intensity game. Lowell and KV were on fall break and students were not in school on Friday. The crowd was not as large as it has been all season and Lowell's domination made it a quiet game. Leading by four TDs in the third quarter, it was easy to look ahead.   Lowell would like to go further in the six week single-elimination state tournament than they have the last two years, but that will firsts require winning the sectional title against an old familiar foe.

Lowell will play Hobart for the sixth time in three years in the sectional title game after the Brickies (6-5 coasted past Gary West Side 42-0. The Devils won 14-7 at Hobart on Oct. 7.

"We had a tough game with them before," Lampa said. "We need to get a little more pressure on the quarterback. We had to defend the pass."

Kennedy added, "they know us, we know them. It'll just be a slugfest. They are more likely to vary from the game plan than we are. They have the (Bobby) James kid on the perimeter. They can do a lot of things with him. He's a helluva receiver and we don't match him too well."

Lowell players seem to feel that the standard for a Red Devil season is the sectional title, which means it all boils down to whether you can win in the 12th week of the season. The squad is almost totally healthy. Lowell is 2-0 in the playoffs and they have earned another home game.  Watching the KV seniors lingering on the field after what will probably be the final football game of their lives was something that many from Lowell could not help but notice afterwards.  Red Devil seniors know the final game is near but that they realistically can keep putting off that check out time.

"When we were down 1-4 that destroys you mentally," Lampa admitted. "But now we're having fun again. We're just enjoying this. This is my 12th (Lowell football) season, counting Pop Warner. So it's touchy. You've got to play every play like it's your last. I don't know how it's going to be out there in the end. I just don't want to get there yet."

LOWELL NOTES:  Scott Gray says that the pressure of being the 'target' of opposing defenses doesn't bother him and even if it did, he basically asked for it.

"Oh yeah, I did," he said. "Definitely.  I wanted to be the main man. Getting the ball 30 times a game. It's tiring. I did pretty well against Hobart last time until the fourth quarter when I started wearing down a little.  Running back and corner can be a little rough, but coach Kennedy conditions us to be strong in the fourth quarter."

Lampa said that Lowell playing against Griffith's option offense prepared them for Kankakee Valley's three-man option.

"His team is almost like Griffith," he said. "That's how we viewed them.  Against the option you have certain assignments and you have to stay with them. You have to just do your job and trust the guy next to you. For example, if you have the quarterback, you have to hit the quarterback, even if you see the ball go someplace else. We did a good job of that.  I thought we did a lot better playing the pass, too. That has been a weakness for us."

Kankakee Valley returns to the Lowell regular season schedule in 2007.  "Crown Point, Morton and Hammond will be our nonconference games," said coach Kirk Kennedy of the new Lowell schedule once they join the Northwest Crossroads Conference (NWCC) in 2007. "KV replaces Calumet, but not in the same week.  We're still playing Morton and Hammond high."

Lowell had a poor second quarter. Leading 14-0, they had a turnover and gave up three completed passes -- one for a 38-yard gain.   The home team seemed to relax somewhat, maybe becoming too confident of victory early in the game.

The Devils also had mediocre second periods against Highland (Oct. 14) and Roosevelt (Oct. 21) after jumping to the early lead.

"We have to figure that out," said Kennedy.  "That's what's going to beat us."

Sophomore Steffan Peck, who has moved in as the starting fullback with the injury to Ethan Winel, carried 11 times for 62 yards and caught a pass for seven yards. Winel, who had a type of leg fracture in early September, is playing largely defense but is moving well.  Peck and Winel figure to team up in the Red Devil backfield in 2006, along behind now-junior QBs Josh Kuiper and Jon Cap.

Kicker Doug Lang booted five of six extra points and his leg seems stronger than it was earlier in the season. In the four games where Lowell has scored 41 points, Lang has booted five of six extra points each time. The sophomore is still looking for that 100% (PAT) game. When Lowell beat Munster 48-7, Lang successfully booted seven of eight point kicks.

The Milk Can:  About 10 years ago, KV and Lowell got together and decided to come up with a trophy to be awarded to the winner of this game.  Since the Lowell and DeMotte school districts both have rural areas, I suppose that's why a large dairy style milk can was chosen.  We're talking about a three-foot high old-style container that you put the milk inside in the barn. The final score of the last eight Lowell-KV games is written on the 'Milk Can' and it's painted Lowell colors because they are in possession of it.  With the Lowell win, the Red Devils will retain possession of the Milk Can.  I'm sure the cheerleaders will repaint it anyway because nobody's touched it in three years.  

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Revised: October 31, 2005 .