Hobart capitalizes on Lowell miscue for 7-0 win at Inferno

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

10-7-2006

Friday, October 6, 2006,  51 degrees in  Lowell, Lake Athletic Conference

1st Qtr:  No scoring.
2nd Qtr:  HOBART (7-0) Andrew Jackson, 6-yard run (21st TD). Jeremy Categena kick - 1:40 left. 
3rd Qtr:  No scoring.
4th Qtr:  No scoring.

GAME TOTALS

TURNOVERS:
Hobart (2)  interception; LOWELL (2) interception

TOTAL YARDS: 
Hobart - 229 yards;  LOWELL - 143 yards

FIRST DOWNS:

Hobart - 10,  LOWELL - 8

HOBART RUSHING (44-196 yards, TD, fumble)

Andrew Jackson (TB) 36 carries, 142 yards;  John Huddelston (HB) 5-15; Josh Miracle (QB) 3-39 yards.

LOWELL RUSHING (35-104 yards, fumble) 

Max Znika (HB) 20 carries, 112 yards; Steffan Peck (HB) 9-12 yards; Josh Kuiper (QB) 6 (-20 yards)

LOWELL PASSING:  

Josh Kuiper (QB) 2-of-10, 39 yards, one INT;   

HOBART PASSING: 

Josh Miracle (QB) 5-of-13, 33 yards, one INT

RECEIVING:

HOBART - Michael Brown (WR) 3-28 yards; Billy Crew (RB) 1-8 yards; Josh Huddleston (RB) 1-5 yards
LOWELL - Jeff Barker (TE) 1-11 yards; TJ Lukasik (WR) 1-23 yards

LOWELL (10-06-2006) - Some football games are decided by your best play of the game.  But while mistakes do make losers out of winners, rarely are games decided by your single worst play.  You always get a chance to overcome it.

On a 3rd-and-18 from Lowell's 12-yard line in a scoreless tie, the Red Devils, not wanting to punt to Hobart's 40-points-per-game offense late in the first half, tried a 'gimmick' play.  Quarterback Josh Kuiper handed off to senor halfback Max Znika on what appeared to be a sweep towards the visitors' side of the field.  Znika then attempted to hand off to junior speedster Eric Roadruck, who had a wide open field to the home sidelines.  He might have run for 30 yards.  Everything went wrong.

The ball was fumbled.  Roadruck didn't grab it, fall on it, kick it out of the end zone or other wise dispose of it before Hobart's Steve Gascy squeezed the ball at the Lowell 1-yard line.  After a 5-yard penalty, Hobart running back Andrew Jackson ran off right tackle for the first TD of the game.  An hour and a half later, it was the only score of the night as 10th-ranked Hobart (7-1) survived 7-0.  The Brickies sixth win in a row and Lowell's fourth loss to a top-10 team this year had all come from the same play.

"He didn't get close enough to receive the handoff," explained Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy later.  "He's got to close the gap and receive the ball.  He probably didn't fall on it because he thought he was in the end zone.  But we had our chances to score and we just couldn't do it."

Members of the Lowell Red Devil cheerleading team hold a banner, through which the Lowell football players crash through prior to the start of their Homecoming game versus Hobart, 10-06-06. (All photos by Mark Smith.)

Lowell running back, senior Max Znika #20 takes hand-off from QB Josh Kuiper #14 with blocking help from Steffan Peck #13 and lineman Andrew Steuer #60 in blocking Hobart's Andrew Walsdorf #86, 10-06-06.  Znika had 20 carries for 112 yards rushing for Lowell.

Hobart junior RB Andrew Jackson (6-1, 225) #6 is met head-on by Lowell's DE Jeffrey Barker (6-5, 187) #34 in a hard-hitting ground game between these two LAC-Black rivals.  Jackson had 36 carries for 142 yards rushing against Lowell, 10-06-06.

Hobart's junior RB Andrew Jackson #6 is gang-tackled by Lowell's Dean Frigo (5-10, 176) #33, Ben Rigby (5-10, 163) #4, Dave Eastling (6-0, 187) #43 and others, while the Brickies' Steve Gacsy (6-0, 205) #30 and Zack Vurva (6-3, 255) #62 offer blocking help, 10-06-06.

Lowell sophomore linebacker/offensive lineman Justin Juarez (6-3, 197) #78 puts his helmet back on after a short break on the sidelines during Hobart's 7-0 win over Lowell, 10-06-06.  (All photos by Mark Smith.)

"I think we had a gutty effort tonight," added Kennedy.  "We played with a lot of heart, but so did Hobart.  They fumbled
too, but it didn't cost them.  It was that kind of ball game.  They're having the kind of year they are for a reason and we're having the year we are for a reason."

Hobart coach Wally McCormack was happy with the win, but he wasn't thrilled with how his side got it.

"We lost a three-year starter (Offensive Tackle Don Brown) on the first series," he began.  "We fumbled twice and threw a pick.  The longer we let them stay in the game, the more confident they got.  And I don't care what anybody says, that's a good defense over there."

Both teams came out motivated and Lowell got a lift early when the initial Hobart drive ended on a diving interception (that actually appeared to be out of bonds) by Red Devil junior corner back TJ Lukasik.

Lowell double-teamed one of the Brickies' pass catching stars Michael Brown and Bobby James on all pass plays and they were able to keep James (32 catches, 525 yards), the 6-foot-2 junior deep scoring threat from catching even one pass.  Brown (33-545 yards) caught just three passes for 28 yards.  The Devils lined up in a six man line with sophomore linebackers Justin Juarez (6-4, 197) and David Eastling (6-0, 187) which forced Hobart QB Josh Miracle to throw the ball quickly.  Jackson, who carried the ball 36 times for 142 yards, was effective when the Brickies, who scored 36 points on Andrean and 20 on Crown Point (8-0), used a double tight end setup to counter Lowell's eight-man front.  But a couple of dropped passes early convinced the Brickies to stick with Jackson (211 carries, 1,085 yards) who had several violent collisions with Lowell defenders that drew loud responses from the 3,000 fans in attendance.

"He's a heckuva back," said Kennedy.  "He runs low with that forward lean.  He's always falling forward.  That wears on a defense.  I'm not saying we wore down, because I don't think we did.  But he's the kind of back who can carry a team.  He's a tough kid.  They rose to the occasion and found a way to win."

The way to victory came after Hobart kicker Jeremy Cartegena missed a 43-yard field goal.  Lowell took the ball from their own 20-yard line and QB Josh Kuiper was sacked by Gascy, a former running back who was displaced on offense by the emergence of Jackson.

On the next play, Znika was stopped on a sweep at the 12-yard line.  Then came the 3rd-and-18 play which began as a sweep and ended in the fumble at the one-yard line.  Kennedy did not want to throw a pass deep in his own territory, but he wanted to take a serious shot at the first down because the Brickies were running the ball well.

"We don't run reverses very often," he explained, "but we do run them a lot in practice.  There was too much space between the running back and the receiver.  The running back is busy.  He's getting the ball and carrying out the fake.  It's the receiver's job to mesh up with the running back and get the ball.  I don't know exactly what happened, but there was too much space there."

In the third quarter, Lowell began to move the ball.  A 33-yard run By Max Znika took the ball to the Hobart 45 and Znika gained two yards on a 4th-and-1 play at the Hobart 35 moments later.  But on 4th-and-5 at the Hobart 30, Gascy tackled Steffan Peck for a loss on a sweep play.

In the fourth quarter, after Lowell's Dean Frigo and Josh Kuiper stopped Jackson on a 4th-and-4 attempt at the Lowell 35 with 7:15 left, Znika broke loose for an 18-yard run.  Two lays later, Kuiper hit a roil-out pass to Lukasik at the Hobart 17-yard-line.  But Znika was stopped for a loss and three incomplete passes ended that drive with 4:21 to play.  Hobart ran out the clock with a 22-yard run by Jackson and a 37-yard run on a bootleg by Miracle.

"Our kids played hard.  We stood toe-to-toe with a pretty good team and fell short because of our own mistakes.  We gift-wrapped the touchdown.  It hurts because it matters now.  Early in the year, I didn't think it mattered to us.  Now, it hurts.  The difference between tonight and some games was, tonight we moved the ball some.  We established field position some.  We ran the clock some It wasn't like we were 3-and-out."

While Hobart (7-1) has a far better record than Lowell (3-5) right now, Lowell has eliminated Hobart from the playoffs in each of the last three seasons and the teams could meet again in the sectional championship game next month.  The Devils have played Hobart seven times in four seasons and the Brickies are 2-5 in those games.  So, this win actually can be seen as encouraging to both sides. Lowell knows they can play with Hobart, while Hobart now is sure they can beat Lowell.

McCormack didn't believe his squad thinks much about the last few seasons.

"We don't spend two seconds talking about what happened in past years," he said, "except to tell them (his players) 'You are not that team.'  Each team has its own identity.  Defensively we found out that we can hitch our bootstraps up and win a close game.  Defensively we did not play well.  But maybe our kids were reading all week about how we score 40 points a game.  All of a sudden we have seven points in the second quarter and we got frustrated.  But we won and we'll take it.

"When you ask where are the toughest places to play, a lot of people say here (in Lowell).  We'd rather play them at home, but it all comes down to blocking and tackling.  Their kids tackle well.  When we lined up in a two receiver formation, they put two kids in their face and another safety over the top.  They were not going to let Bobby (James) beat them."

McCormack wanted the season-low Hobart point total to be credited to excellence by the opposition.

"Folks might say 'Why didn't we throw more?'  But who are we going to throw to?  We tried to do some things, bootleg stuff with the tight end, but then you have 6-foot-5 (Jeff) Barker coming off the edge (around the end of the offensive line) and he gets up field and makes things happen quickly.  They played us defensively the way they did last year.  We thought they'd go 6-2 when we were in double tights (double tight end).  They did some different coverage things against double tights.  But we tried to throw.  And every time we tried to throw the QB almost got hurt and we've got 5-9 throwing over 6-5 (Barker) and 6-7 (Staniewicz)."

"They flip flop guys depending on tendencies, added McCormack.  "Coach (Lowell defensive coordinator Brad) Stewart flip flops guys depending on what he thinks we're going to do.  If they put an extra defender on Bobby (James) and you put the tight end on the other side, he will put Barker on that side and then you have to account for Barker, which isn't that easy to do.  That's why we're in the shot gun.  Miracle is 5-9 and he can't throw over 6-5 and 6-7 (defenders)."

McCormack thought that Hobart's shutting out Lowell was a breakthrough for a defense that, he says, has been maligned as the 'weak' part of his state-rated squad.

But Kennedy obviously hopes Lowell earns a rematch with Hobart on Nov. 3 in the Sectional nine championship game.

"We did accomplish some things offensively.  We just didn't score.  We were in it right up to the end.  We just didn't score.  We got plays that work and we just can't execute.  I don't know what it is.  The pressure?  Confidence?  I don't know.  But when things are there, we just don't take advantage.  Early in the year, we probably would have been happy to lose by only seven.  Now, it hurts because we let an opportunity slip through our fingers.  Maybe this just sets up round two."

DEVIL NOTES:  Hobart lost veteran offensive lineman Don Brown (6-2, 250) to a knee injury on the first series... and he did not return.  There was fear it could be a season-ending injury.  The Brickies played Andy Kepshire (5-10, 190) on offense and defense for the first time this year.  Linebackers Steve Gascy (6-0, 205) and Nate Trinosky (5-10, 175) were all over the field for the Brickies, who recorded their second shutout of the year and their sixth in three seasons.

Lowell's defense had another strong game, even with the offense unable to move the ball early.  The Devils are still without linebackers Kaleb Layman and Danny Remboski and senior backup running back Chris Briggs.  Mike Staniewicz is playing both ways with a large cast on his left hand.  But players like junior linebackers Ben Rigby (5-10, 163), and Dean Frigo (5-10,175) and sophomores Justin Juarez (6-4, 197) and David Eastling (6-0, 187) are clearly making an impact.

With Lukasik and Lukas Palmer excelling in the secondary plus Kuiper, Drew Steuer (6-0, 222) and Staniewicz leading the way, the Red Devil defense is formidable again.

"A lot of our younger kids are playing with a lot more confidence," said Kennedy.  "Some kids are forced to play because of the (injury) situation, but they're improving."

Max Znika seems noticeably quicker than he was at the start of the year and, with Steffan Peck (5-6, 165) slowed by minor injuries and wear and tear of almost 150 carries, Znika may move into a feature role.  Lowell's Danny Remboski (6-0, 193) hoped to be back for the ninth week game at Highland.  He has missed five weeks with a deep ankle sprain.

"It would almost have been better if I broke it," he said. "It just takes a long time to heal."

Returning starter Kaleb Layman has a torn MCL and ACL. One has healed by itself and the other will require surgery.

"I haven't had the surgery yet," he reports.  "I don't have a winter sport.  I have a lot of time."

Lowell would like senior back-up halfback Chris Briggs, if only because he is a senior (Lowell has very few) and a running back (a position where they are vulnerable to injury).

"I don't know if I'm going to make it back in time," he said.
 
McCormack said that Lowell made a good move putting Josh Kuiper against Bobby James.

"He put the quarterback on him and he was big and physical enough to deal with him.  Their defensive backs had a real good game.   If they came out in that 6-2, we were gong to throw all night.   But we lost a three-year starter on the first play on the offensive line and we had protection issues."

Former Lowell foe Crown Point (8-0) raced to a 34-0 halftime lead and beat Chesterton 41-21.  Griffith (8-0), another former Lowell conqueror, routed Andrean 36-13.  Morton, which defeated Lowell but was bombed by Hobart, crushed Highland 33-10.

To the east, 4A No. 2 Concord (8-0) crushed Northridge 40-7.  Concord, which has scored 33 or more points in every game this year, plays Warsaw (1-7) to end the regular season.

In a matchup of unbeatens 1A No. 2 Lafayette Catholic (8-0) blasted 3A No. 5 Culver Academy (7-1) by a 35-10 score. 3A No. 1 (coaches poll) Bishop Chatard (7-1) blasted Indianapolis Northwest 48-0. Chatard, which returned nine defensive starters from last season's state finals team, has allowed 67 points in eight games.