WEATHER:
Chance of rain, upper 60s by game time
TICKETS: $5
TV-Radio: None.
HISTORY: Lowell has won the last 11 meetings between these
two teams including a 21-6 win in Lowell last year, a 27-0 victory two years ago
at KV and a 28-0 win in Lowell in 1999. The Kougars have only scored 46
points against Lowell in those 11 games.
DIRECTIONS/PARKING: KV high school is in Wheatfield, east of DeMotte. Take Route 2 out of Lowell east to 231 (South) and follow 231 into DeMotte. At the south end of DeMotte, turn left (east) on Route 10 and go 2 miles. The high school is on the south side of Route 10. This is KV's homecoming and there will be a big crowd. Almost nobody from Lowell went to Griffith for the Red Devils upset win last week but everybody saw it on TV. The Lowell caravan returns to the road this Friday against a natural rival in a game that will not be on TV. Red Devil worshippers folks need to know that the KV parking lot will fill up quickly. Get there at an early time or bring your walking shoes.
WHEATFIELD: Kankakee Valley rebounded from an 0-10 season in 2001 with a 3-1 start including wins over Bishop Noll 20-6, North Newton 38-14 and River Forest 14-6. But the joy ride stalled the last two weeks, with losses to state top-10 2A teams Rensselaer and North Judson by identical scores of 51-6.
Lowell is similar to North Judson so the Kougars are going to have to hold Lowell to less than the 265 yards they gave up last week at Judson. The Kougars have gone a sophomore QB in Gentry Brown (5-11, 150), who appears to be a good athlete. Brown completed 15 of 21 for 277 yards in the 38-14 win over North Newton on Sept. 13. Wide receiver-defensive back Mike Lauritis scored on a 90-yard interception return against Noll and caught a 12-yard TD pass against North Newton.
Tight
end Joe Monet (6-2, 196), KV's QB the past two years is a two-way player and
team leader. Seniors Ryan Middlecamp (6-1, 175) and Travis Stansberry
(6-0, 175) are hard runners but the KV lines are small and inexperienced. The
Kougars have allowed 1,071 yards rushing against (except for LaPorte) a small
school schedule. One other thing. KV has made only two conversion kicks
all year. They'll probably be going for two if they score.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN: This will be a test of Lowell's maturity. The
Devils won a big game against a big rival, (21-20 over Griffith) and they've
been hearing how great they are all week. None of these boys have ever
lost to KV so they have to make an effort to respect them. On paper,
Lowell's offensive line and running backs will eventually wear down the Kougars,
who are loaded with smaller two-way players.
But there are other factors. This is the final game for the foreseeable
future between KV and Lowell, and this is KV's homecoming. While 3-3 isn't
much to a lot of schools, this is a comeback year for the Kougars. KV's
final two games are 3A No 3 Andrean (6-0) and 3A No. 11 Twin Lakes (5-1), teams
they are even more unlikely to beat than Lowell. This game would make KV's
entire season. 'Kougar Kountry' will be happy all winter if they beat
Lowell.
The Kougars saw Chuck Thompson hit James Jeffries for that 58-yard TD last week, but if they're smart, they'll ignore that and play the traditional Lowell defense, which brings nine men up near the line of scrimmage to stop the run. If Lowell breaks a couple of long TD runs early, this game is over. Remember, the Kougars have lost by 45 points two weeks in a row. But I think KV catches Lowell a little overconfident and stays even, maybe 7-7 in the first half. KV has only scored six points in the third quarter all season while Lowell has scored 45 third quarter points. The Devils will take the lead on a run by Toby Goetz and a field goal by Tim Sova, but the fired-up Kougars will make big stops to stay in the game. Gentry Brown will pass 20-25 times and the Devils will give up a fourth quarter score to make the game exciting for the homecoming crowd.
Lowell has consistently taken care of business against KV down through the years. But there's something about this game that should worry Lowell. It seems too easy. I see KV putting up a great fight in the battle for the 'Milk Can'. But the Devils hold on and get out of town with a victory.
LOWELL 17, Kankakee Valley 14
DEVIL NOTES: It seems clear that you're going to see a lot more of that 'full house' formation using all three of Lowell's running backs; Justin Henley, Toby Goetz and Randy Lukasik, in the backfield at the same time in short yardage situations. When Henley carried behind Goetz and Lukasik with tight end Jim Jeffries and the right side of the Lowell line leading the way, the Devils got what they needed.
Henley
officially carried 17 times against Griffith for 88 yards giving him 780 yards
on 107 carries this season. Playing in only five games, Goetz has 420
yards on 61 carries. Lowell has never had two boys rush for 1,000 yards in
the same season but, if the Devils can get to the sectional title game, it
should happen happen this year. Justin Henley's almost there and Goetz
seems on the verge of a 150-200 yard game.
In 1999, Mike French gained 1,350 yards on 200 carries while Chris Goult gained
943 yards on 157 carries. Junior QB Chuck Thompson has completed only 13
passes all year, but six have gone for TDs. The running backs have a
little bit to do with it, but Lowell's offensive line gets most of the credit
for this statistic: Lowell has rushed for 1519 yards (253.1 per game) through
six games.
Lowell should've won last week by more than 21-20. Not only did Lowell's Chris
Garza recover a fumble at the Griffith 49-yard-line with 1:00 left in the second
quarter, only to have the referees rule that they didn't see any fumble. But the
hook-and-ladder trick play that started Griffith on their final TD drive was
clearly a forward lateral that again, the referees just flat out missed. Lowell
appeared to get out of the Griffith game with no new injuries. There were 39
players on the roster at the start of the season and 38 dressed for last week'
game. The state tournament draw comes next Wednesday.
LOWELL 1,000-yard rushers (since 1990)
1993
(10-1) Michael Pickett 273 carries, 1,687 yards 21
TDs
1994 (11-2) Michael Pickett 339 carries, 2,256 yards, 33
TDs
1995 (7-3) Matt Pernick 175
carries, 1,349 yards, 23 TDs
1996 (6-3) Matt Pernick 229
carries, 1,827 yards, 28 TDs
1997 (6-3) Nick Holley
133 carries, 1,014
yards, 15 TDs
1999 (12-2) Mike French 280
carries, 1,338 yards, 15 TDs
2000 (8-3) Mike French 198
carries, 1,194 yards, 12 TDs
2001 (6-6) Sean Anderson 242 carries, 1,178 yards,
11 TDs
2002 (4-2) Justin Henley 107
carries, 780 yards, 7 TDs
On the
horizon
Lowell's
final two opponents:
at MUNSTER (10-11-2002) The Mustangs bounced back from
losses to Andrean 20-10 and Munster 14-3 to annihilate Hammond 69-13.
Munster led 69-0 after three quarters. There is still a feeling that Munster is
the best team in the Lake Athletic Conference but if Andrean can rush for 200
yards against the Mustangs, can't Lowell do the same? I wonder if they had
some players missing against Andrean and Griffith, though. Coaches don't
talk publicly about that. Linebacker Adam DelRio intercepted two passes
and score on a blocked punt and fullback Steve Smith (5-10, 205) has now scored
nine TDs. It's a little distorted by last week's rout but Munster averages
36.1 points per game.
Class 3A No. 3 ANDREAN (10-18-2002) The 59ers coasted by a
surprisingly disorganized Highland team 41-7 last week and they have now
outscored six foes 226-60. Brett Goins (6-4, 215) is 57 of 85 for 928
yards and 10 TDs. Lowell coaches are probably digging up the defense they
used in the 4A regional against All-America QB Clayton Richard in 1999.
The 59ers have held everybody but Griffith to less than 100 yards rushing, but Griffith gained 248 yards rushing. I still think the run defense of Andrean is suspect without injured linebacker Rob Caldwell, who will probably miss the Lowell game as well. Andrean has been coasting in the last month with games against Horace Mann, Hammond, Highland and KV. Of the 59ers first eight foes, only two (Noll and Munster) had winning records after six weeks. Lowell isn't favored to win at Munster but if they do, this game is for the Lake Conference Black Division title.