MUNSTER | Maybe they were hiding in the mud?
Nobody was quite sure where Munster was for three quarters Friday night.
But when it mattered most -- crunch time in the fourth quarter -- the Times No. 9 Mustangs rallied with two touchdowns in the final quarter -- both Josh Lukoshus passes to Justin Gill -- to stun No. 1 Lowell 15-13 in Northwest Crossroads Conference play.
It was the Red Devils' first regular-season loss since Sept. 7, 2007 -- a 29-28 loss to Griffith.
"I just throw it up and Justin makes plays," said Lukoshus, who was making just his third start of the year after an early shoulder injury. "If I get it close, you can forget about it. He's catching it."
Gill, and the rest of the Munster offense, was close to missing for most of the game. At the half, Munster (6-2, 4-1) had just 9 rushing yards and seven penalties. But thanks to a revived offense in the final 11 minutes, the Mustangs scored 12 points, thanks to 19 and 11-yard TD passes from Lukoshus to Gill.
Lukoshus finished the game 12-for-28 for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
"We knew if we played good defense we could hang around long enough to make some plays," Munster coach Leroy Marsh said. "I thought our kids in all three phases of the game played as hard as they could. We beat a very good football tonight."
Lowell (7-1, 4-1) missed a field goal and extra point in the first half. A 13-3 lead never seemed safe, according to coach Kirk Kennedy, who was disappointed his team couldn't close the door -- and hammer it shut.
"Instead of salting the game away in these conditions, we let them hang around," Kennedy said. "They started to play with confidence and we got tight.
"You can't sit back on your heels against a quality football team like that and expect to hold on. Again, the issue for us is lack of excitement -- lack of enthusiasm. We just went through the motions. I don't have an answer."
Lowell's Brandon Grubbe finished with a game-high 134 yards rushing.
PREP FOOTBALL
No. 9 Munster 15, No. 1 Lowell 13
Josh Lukoshus threw his first two touchdown passes of the season in the win.
