Concord beats Lowell 33-14 to capture 4A Regional title at Inferno

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

11-13-2006

Saturday, November 11, 2006, 38 degrees, muddy field in Lowell, Class 4A Regional 9 Championship

1st Qtr:  No scoring.
2nd Qtr:  CONCORD (7-0)  Cedric Hurt, 5-yard TD pass from Bobby Cira. 97-yard drive, 5 plays.  Jeremy Howard kick.  9:24 left.
LOWELL (7-7)  Josh Kuiper, 51-yard run.  80-yard drive, 9 plays.  David Lang kick.  5:40 left.
CONCORD (13-7)  Mike Meade, 25-yard pass from Bobby Cira. 76-yard drive, 7 plays.  Kick blocked by Mike Staniewicz.  2:14 left.
3rd Qtr:  CONCORD (19-7)  Monty Marion, 50-yard run.  63-yard drive, 4 plays. 2-point pass play by Cira sacked by Drew Steuer and Joe Carlson.  6:25 left.
LOWELL (14-19)  Max Znika, 15-yard run.  79-yard drive, 9 plays.  David Lang kick.  1:51 left. 
4th Qtr:  CONCORD (26-14)  Mike Meade, 27-yard pass from Bobby Cira.  72-yard drive, 8 plays. Jeremy Howard kick.  11:40 left.
CONCORD (33-14)  Cedric Hurt, 22-yard pass from Bobby Cira (41st TD pass). 23-yard drive, 2 plays.  Jeremy Howard kick.  5:08 left.

TOTAL YARDS:
Concord:  359,  LOWELL:  302

FIRST DOWNS:
Concord: 15,  LOWELL:  14
PASSING:
Bobby Cira (Concord) 13-18, 158, 4 TDs, 0 INTs
                     Josh Kuiper  (LOWELL) 4-10, 39 yards, one INT

RECEIVING:

CONCORD - Mike Meade (WR) 5-75 yards, 2 TDs;  Cedric Hurt (WR) 3-30 yards, 2 TDs; Greg LeBold (WR) 1-7;  Kyle Moore (WR) 1-11;  Monty Marion (TB) 1-2;  James Cira (WR) 2-19.
LOWELL - Steffan Peck (FB) 2-17; TJ Lukasik (WR) 1-21, Jeff Barker (TE) 1-10.

RUSHING:
CONCORD - Monty Marion (TB) 16-158, TD; Bobby Cira (QB) 5-41, Wes Smith (HB) 2-2;

LOWELL - Max Znika (HB) 32-136, TD, Steffan Peck (FB) 11-43; TJ Lukasik (WR) 2-38,

Josh Kuiper (QB) 3-47, TD;  Lukas Palmer (WR) 2 (-1)

PUNTING:

CONCORD - Mike Meade (P) 2-27 avg;  LOWELL - David Lang (P) 3-31.6 avg.
    LOWELL - Steffan Peck (FB) 2-17; TJ Lukasik (WR) 1-21, Jeff Barker (TE) 1-10.

PENALTIES: 

CONCORD - 6-40;  LOWELL - 3-35

TURNOVERS:

CONCORD - one fumble, LOWELL - one interception.

LOWELL, IN (11-11-2006) - To stop a top-level offensive team, you have to have a plan, the majority of which works the majority of the time.  In the 4A regional championship game with Concord, Lowell haD a plan to stop Concord's state class passing game, and worked to a large part, holding 3,000-yard passer Bobby Cira to 13 of 18 for 158 yards.  For three quarters.

When the Red Devils could not convert on early scoring chances, 4A No. 2 Concord (13-0) got Cira in position for two fourth quarter TD passes as the Minutemen pulled away from Lowell 33-14 in the cold and the mud out behind Lowell high school.

After heavy rains and lightning postponed the regional title game from Friday night, Lowell double-teamed Concord's outside receivers, dared them to run the ball and sent junior ends Joe Carlson and Jeff Barker rushing at Cira's shotgun position from wide angles.  The Minutemen, who averaged 43 points a game and punted only 19 times in 12 games, were forced to punt the first two times they had the ball and fumbled the third time.  But Lowell could not convert on any of its first three possessions.  Had they scored one or two first quarter touchdowns, they'd be playing in Fort Wayne Saturday night against Bishop Dwenger (12-1) in the 4A Northern Semistate.

"We were flying around defensively," said Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy.  "In the first quarter, we had a lot of enthusiasm and intensity. Our kids fought hard and played hard all night, but in any game there are adjustments to be made.  After the first quarter, Concord made adjustments."

Concord also made three of four scoring plays that average players could not have made in 30-degree weather in a late-Saturday  (4:30 p.m.) start.  After Lowell's Lukas Palmer was stopped on a 4th-and-goal wingback reverse at the 3-yard-line, the Minutemen adjusted by taking what the defense gave them.

Cira broke loose on an option run for 30 yards.  Tailback Monty Marion (6-0, 225) raced 57 yards on a draw play, breaking tackles until he was stopped at the Lowell 10.  Then a stunning play.  Cira rolled out and Lowell's Andrew Steuer had him trapped back at the 15 yard line.  Steuer body-checked Cira hoping to knock him down.  But the Concord QB stayed upright on the wet grass and looked down field.  The 5-10 senior quarterback tossed a lob off his back foot to senior receiver Cedric Hurt alone in the western corner of Lowell's south end zone for a 7-0 lead 9:24 before halftime.

"I don't know what happened," said Cira.  "I thought he (Steuer) would hit me harder.  I saw Ced running in the back of the end zone so I just threw it up to him."

Lowell rallied immediately, gaining two first downs before senior QB Josh Kuiper took a QB option run around right end.  Kuiper (6-0, 170) broke into the clear, ran over two defenders and barreled into the end zone standing up to tie the game to the delight of the home sidelines with 5:40 left until halftime.

But Concord came back again, taking what they were given, busting a 19-yard run by Marion.  As Lowell tried to protect the middle of the field, Bobby Cira hit brother James Cira for 17 yards and Meade, a 6-foot-5 senior, for nine yards to the Lowell 25.  Cira then lobbed a high-arching fade pass into the south end zone that Meade ran under to give Concord a 13-7 lead at the half.

"We made some mistakes that were critical," said Kennedy.  "Concord made some plays.  That's why they are the team they are.  With his quick release and his accuracy, he's as good as there is at the high school level.  We were getting some pressure on him, but he was very good at stepping up in the pocket."

To visualize what Bobby Cira is like, think about watching the Indianapolis Colts and all-pro star Peyton Manning.  Imagine a kid half a foot smaller doing a similar routine.  Cira calls plays at the line of scrimmage gesturing and pointing almost exactly like Manning.

"We can call all the plays at the line of scrimmage," he said.  "I'm just reading the defense, seeing which receiver should be open according to that defense."

Cira's only drawback is his height.  At 5-11, he has to step correctly against pass rushers or he can't see downfield.  Lowell got two sacks but they didn't come close to an interception.

"The key is," said Kennedy,  "as you move around in the pocket, to keep your eyes down the field to give yourself a chance to find another receiver.  Even when he (Cira) is pressured, he keeps his eyes down field.  Most quarterbacks become a running back at that point.  That's what makes him different from most quarterbacks."

But Lowell's ability to run the ball shortened the game.  Concord got just 10 possessions all evening and the final one was to run out the clock late in the final 90 seconds.

Lowell came out strong in the third quarter, driving to the Concord 25-yard line.  But sophomore defensive tackle Steven Irving (6-2, 235) sacked Kuiper for a five-yard loss and Lowell attempted a 47-yard field goal, a decision they'd probably like to have back.  Irving broke through again and blocked the kick.  Three plays later Marion, who gained 1,000 yards in the first 12 games, took a pitch to the right, broke a couple of tackles and raced down the visitors' sidelines for Concord's third TD.  Even after Lowell's Joe Carlson and Andrew Steuer sacked Cira on the conversion attempt, the visitors led 19-7.

Lowell then gambled on 4th-and-3 from their own 28-yard line.  Lining up to punt, they snapped the ball to TJ Lukasik, who was in a blocking position.  Lukasik ran five yards for a first down.  After a pass interference call against Concord, Lukasik took a handoff out of a wingback position and raced 33 yards to the Minuteman 17 yard line.  Two plays later, Znika ran 15 yards for the score to make it 19-14 with 1:07 left in the third quarter.  In the second half, Lowell used Lukasik (5-7, 165) as a lead blocker.

"He's emerged as a play maker on both sides of the ball," said Kennedy.  "Our problem early in the year was that we didn't have anybody making (big) plays.  He proved he could do that."

Concord did not give Lowell a possession with the score 19-14 early in the fourth quarter.  A 72-yard Minuteman drive aided by two major penalties against Lowell, set up a 22-yard bullet pass from Bobby Cira to Meade making the score 26-14 with 10:40 left in the game.  Cira, who almost throws the football as if it were a baseball, fired a 22-yard TD pass to Cedric Hurt after Concord's Justin Gage intercepted a Josh Kuiper pass and ran it back to the Lowell 28 for the final TD with 5:38 left in the game.

Kennedy thought that, looking back, the game was lost at the start.

"We had three straight possessions and we couldn't score," said Kennedy.  "Our defense held on the first three possessions of the game.  That's when we had to get some (points) on the board.  After that we started trading touchdowns with them and you can't trade touchdowns with a team like this."

"We knew this would be a tough game," said Cira.  "There are no flukes and this point.  Nobody's lucky to get here at this point."

"We've got to give Lowell a lot of credit," said Dawson.  "Their kids played hard.  And they took care of the field.  It wasn't great today, but it's a lot better than last night."

"I'm proud of these kids," said Kennedy of his team.  "They fought hard. We just didn't have enough tonight.  Every group is hard to say good bye to for different reasons.  It's a disappointing end, but the program is in great shape and these guys are the reasons why."

REGIONAL NOTES:  Lowell's coaches did not want to wait late into the night Friday (as they did in LaPorte) to attempt to play the game to a conclusion on the date it was scheduled.  Both sides preferred to postpone until Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

"At first the conditions (Friday) favored us," said Kennedy.  "But then the conditions didn't favor anybody.  The right decision was made last night.  We couldn't have played.  The field was a factor (today), but it was the same for both teams."

Except for times when they were inside their own 10-yard line, Concord spread four wide receivers on every play, operating with a tailback but no fullback or tight end.  They have not been doing this 'West coast" offense very long.

"This offenses goes back to the eighth game of last year," said Bobby Cira, who threw for 2,700 yards last season.  "Right after we played Northridge.  I can call all the plays at the line of scrimmage.  I'm just reading the defense and seeing what receivers are open."

Coaches and players seem programmed to say certain things and Cira and his coach Tim Dawson kept insisting that running the ball was a major part of the Minutemen attack, even though Cira has an Elkhart County record 41 TD passes.

"We battle the wind," Cira said,  "We battle the rain.  It's not only a passing game.  It's a running game, too."

Dawson added, "Anybody who knows me, knows I won't have an offense where you can't run the ball.  We used to be a two-back, tight end team.  Our offensive coaches talked me into it (the four wide receiver set) and obviously, they're smarter than I am.  You've got to win championships with defense and I love the composure of our team.  Our defense made some big stops.  When our defense put us in good position, our offense capitalized on it."

For the record, with help from the defense and running game, Cira has completed 199 of 298 passes for 3,374 yards and 41 TDs.

Lowell bitterly disputed a penalty with Concord driving at the Lowell 41 and the score 19-14.  Concord's Monte Marion lost the ball at the Lowell 25, starting a wild scramble with boys jumping on top of other boys.  No names were announced, but it was thought the referees penalized Mike Staniewicz for jumping into the pile late to try to find the loose ball, a personal foul that is almost never called.  That play set up the 26-14 touchdown.

Oddly, this is the third consecutive regional championship game Lowell has lost at home, all to teams from the Northern Lakes Conference.  Lowell lost to East Noble in November of 2003 and to Concord's Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) rival Wawasee in 2004.

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Revised: November 13, 2006 .