Lowell football success is generational

LOWELL | Last Saturday night at The Inferno, there were several older males in Lowell letterman's jackets who did some talking. Some conversations were emphatic. Others were more like a Hallmark Card moment.

These older, former Red Devils spoke to their younger brothers, who had just beaten Fort Wayne Dwenger 24-21 in the Class 4A northern semistate, which advanced them to today's state championship game against Evansville Reitz at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

There was a special moment with junior Jordan Juarez and his brother, Justin, who graduated last spring.

"We ran and jumped up and gave each other a high-five," Jordan Juarez said. "He motivates me more than anyone else. He told me to play every play like it's my last. He always gives me tips. He always tells me to go out and do my thing and believe in my teammates."

A few yards away, 2009 grad and current Drake player Cody Midgett, walked up to his brother, Red Devils junior Cole Midgett.

"He hadn't seen me in a month," Cole said. "And the first thing he said to me was, 'Hey, what happened on that play where that kid caught the ball and you just stood there? What the (heck).'"

Program built on brotherhood

When Kennedy took over in 1991, it was rare to see a former player return to watch his brother.

From the 1970 season through the 1990 campaign, Lowell was 54-158-2 with winless seasons in '78, '79 and '83. The Devils were 23-73 in the 1980s.

"We had to change the climate," Kennedy said. "I think it's great that we have younger brothers who are trying to carry the torch that their older brothers did. That's how a program stays strong. You just can't have one or two good classes.

"You have to have a community behind you and that's what we've been able to build here."

Like any group of brothers, though, good-natured humor is used when discussing the game of football. While the younger Devils are trying to make their siblings proud, they're also cracking one-liners in comparing the old with the new.

Just ask 6-foot-4, 223-pound lineman Tyler Wright, younger brother of former North All-Star Logan Wright.

"To me it seems like the younger brothers are better," Tyler Wright said. "We've learned from all of our older brothers' mistakes. No, Logan taught me how to block and how to never give up. I guess I have to give him credit for that."

But the jiving goes both ways. After Saturday's Dwenger game, 2008 grad Matt Garton told his brother Stephen Garton, a senior defensive back, two things.

"He told me congratulations,' Stephen said. "Then he told me that he has two rings back at the house so this didn't matter."

Many comparisons have been made with Lowell now and those great Hobart teams of the 1980s and 1990s, where the same surnames kept reappearing on the rosters. There is no question that good football programs need good football families, with lots of boys in the station wagon.

Senior center and linebacker Anthony DeMario was motivated by his brother Brian, who graduated last spring. Brian started last year while Anthony was a reserve.

"I was mad because I thought I was better than him," DeMario said.

James Szafranski was motivated by his brother, Bob, who played on Lowell's 1999 semistate team.

"My brother and that '99 team made me want to play football," James Szafranski said. "They meant that much to me."

And that push is what makes Kennedy and his staff proud.

Football, after all, is a game that has a foundation of brothers and friends playing ball at the park.

PREP FOOTBALL | STATE FINALS PREVIEW

More inside, online

See if Times online voters believe Lowell will beat Reitz. PAGE C2

Read a scouting report for today's Class 4A state finals. PAGE C4

Friday's Class A and 2A state finals are decided in Indy. PAGE C4

Join Jim Peters at 2:15 p.m. today as he leads a live chat from Lowell's game against Reitz. nwi.com

A band of brothers

There are eight current Lowell players who have graduated brothers who played for coach Kirk Kennedy:

Current Lowell player/older brother (year graduated)

So. Jeremy Crocker/Jim Crocker (1999)

Sr. Anthony DeMario/Brian DeMario (2009)

Sr. Stephen Garton/Matt Garton (2008)

So. Jacob Hayden/Josh Hayden (2008)

Jr. Jordan Juarez/Justin Juarez (2009)

Jr. Cole Midgett/Cody Midgett (2009)

Jr. James Szafranski/Bob Szafranski (2002)

So. Tyler Wright/Logan Wright (2009)

State Finals

At Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis

Today

Class 3A

West Lafayette (14-0) vs. Evansville Memorial (11-3), 11 a.m., WWCA-AM (1270), regionsports.com, midamericabroadcasting.com, sportsjuice.com

Class 4A

Lowell (13-1) vs. Evansville Reitz (14-0), 2:30 p.m., WWCA-AM (1270), WGVE-FM (88.7), midamericabroadcasting.com, sportsjuice.com, regionsports.com

Class 5A

Carmel (13-1) vs. Warren Central (12-2), 6:05 p.m., WWCA-AM (1270), midamericabroadcasting.com, sportsjuice.com, regionsports.com

The Tale of the Tape

L ER

Total points/avg. 470/33.6 549/39.2

Points allowed/avg. 150/10.7 121/8.5

First downs per game 15.4 11.2

Rushing yards/avg. 3,878/277 2,224/158.9

Rushing yards allowed 1,436/102.6 1,251/89.6

Passing yards/avg. 734/52.4 2,348/167.7

Total yards/avg. 4,612/329.4 5,662/404.4

Total yards allowed 2,915/208.2 2,710/193.6

Total punts/avg. 33/33.1 33/34.9

Penalties/yards 48/386 101/899

Scouting Evansville Reitz

Aug. 21 Henderson County (Ky.) 27-0

Aug. 29 at Daviess County (Ky.) 14-2

Sept. 4 at Evansville Harrison 49-7

Sept. 11 Evansville Memorial 28-14

Sept. 18 at Castle 42-7

Sept. 25 at Evansville Central 55-7

Oct. 2 at Evansville North 35-6

Oct. 9 Evansville Bosse 45-27

Oct. 16 Evansville Mater Dei 59-0

Sectional

Oct. 23 Seymour 35-0

Oct. 30 at Evansville Central 35-7

Nov. 6 Jasper 42-6

Regional

Nov. 14 at East Central 52-28

Semistate

Nov. 20 Indianapolis Cathedral 31-10

Rushing leaders -- Matt McIntosh, 187 carries for 1,414 yards and 19 TDs; Alordo Bell, 178 carries for 1,045 yards and 16 TDs; Jeff Hudson, 37 carries for 204 yards and 4 TDs.

Passing leader -- Matt McIntosh, 135-of-204 for 2,048 yards and 24 TDs and 5 interceptions.

Receiving leaders -- Jeff Hudson, 62 catches for 751 yards and 8 TDs; Cuda Dimmett, 33 catches for 619 yards and 5 TDs; Morgan Jones, 25 catches for 474 yards and 7 TDs.

Tackling leaders -- Tony Ewers, 196 tackles, 13 sacks; Brandon Kemp, 184 tackles, 10 sacks; Jeff Fentress, 162 tackles, 11.5 sacks; Shane Woodget, 150 tackles, 10.5 sacks.

Panthers in a minute: Only Jeff Hudson and Tony Ewers were starters two years ago when Reitz beat Lowell 33-14 at the RCA Dome in the state final. But coach Tony Lewis has 20 seniors who were believing their team could get back to Indianapolis and have, beating everybody's favorite, Cathedral, last week in front of 12,000 fans at the Reitz Bowl. "From the start of the season our kids believed we could get here, and our staff believed we could get here," Lewis said. "Their confidence has grown as the season's gone on." Lewis said East Central is the team most like Lowell that the Panthers have played. Despite the 52-28 win in the regional, he said his team was beat up when it was over.

Scouting the Lowell Red Devils

Aug. 21 Crown Point 19-0

Aug. 28 at Morton 34-25

Sept. 4 at Kankakee Valley 40-13

Sept. 11 Griffith 35-19

Sept. 18 Highland 42-0

Sept. 25 at Hobart 35-0

Oct. 2 Hammond 63-0

Oct. 9 at Munster 13-15

Oct. 16 Andrean 25-21

Sectional

Oct. 23 at Plymouth 14-6

Oct. 30 South Bend Washington 24-7

Nov. 6 Concord 60-23

Regional

Nov. 13 at Morton 42-0

Semistate

Nov. 21 Fort Wayne Dwenger 24-21

Rushing leaders -- Brandon Grubbe, 374 carries for 2,243 yards and 36 TDs; Ray Skamay, 84 carries for 452 yards and 6 TDs; Jordan Juarez, 89 carries for 449 yards and 3 TDs.

Passing leader -- Ray Skamay, 43-of-113 for 704 yards, 5 TDs and 8 interceptions.

Receiving leaders -- Cole Midgett, 13 catches for 339 yards and 4 TDs; Joe Bell, 11 catches for 116 yards and 1 TD; Brandon Grubbe, 4 catches for 69 yards.

Tackling leaders -- Michael Sekuloski, 95 tackles; Jordan Juarez, 67 tackles, 10 TFL, 4 sacks; Anthony DeMario, 60 tackles; Joe Bell, 58 tackles, 9 sacks, 7 TFL.

Red Devils in a minute: If the Red Devils want to win their second state title, first since 2005, they will have to keep McIntosh from going off through the air and with his feet. The best defense is likely long, protracted drives that keep the Panthers' offense on the sidelines. "There are no secrets to what we're going to try to do," Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy said. "There never is." Grubbe will need to carry the ball for many first downs and the defense must hold serve like it did against Dwenger. Playing on turf will likely be to Reitz's advantage. Rage from being embarrassed two years ago is certainly in the Red Devils' corner. "Nobody liked what happened two years ago and none of us want to see that happen again," Kennedy said.