Friday August 27th 2010

Written by Lowell Football

WIXOM--Lowell opened the 2010 season with a 30-7 victory over the Walled Lake Western Warriors. The Red Arrows have won 17 straight season openers; their last loss came in 1993, losing to Ionia 12-20.

Gabe Dean and Matt Houston led the way on offense, connecting nine times for 129 yards. Dean completed 14 of his 20 pass attempts for 190 yards and one touchdown. The junior quarterback also rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 20 attempts.

The Warriors got on the board first, taking the opening possession of the game 73 yards for a 7-0 lead. Trevon Fleming caught a 34 yard pass early in the drive and hauled in a 21 yard pass from CJ Gorisk for a touchdown. Fleming finished with three receptions for 59 yards.

The Red Arrow defense would recover, holding the Warriors to just 49 yards for the remainder of the game.

Lowell had similar success on their opening drive. The Red Arrows moved the ball inside the Warrior's 15 yard line before Western's defense forced the Red Arrows to turn the ball over on downs. Houston had three reception on the drive for 38 yards and senior running back Leighton Watson rushed for 21 yards on six carries.

Western didn't have the ball for long. After an incomplete pass and two runs for a total loss of eight yards, the Warrior's were forced to punt. The Red Arrows got their first points of the game when the snap went over the punter's head and through the back of the endzone for a safety.

After a facemask penalty on the free kick, the Red Arrows started their second drive of the game on their own 37 yard line. Lowell scored just five plays later on a 10 yard touchdown run by Dean. Dean rushed for 30 yards on the drive and hit Houston on a 28 yard completion to set up the touchdown. After the two point conversion pass attempt failed, the Red Arrows led 8-7.

The second half opened with a 50 yard kick off return by Houston to the Warrior's 49 yard line. The excellent feild position resulted in a touchdown nine plays later when Watson ran into the endzone, untouched, from three yards out. Watson had four carries on the drive for 22 yards. Dean complete two passes to Houston for 25 of the 49 yards gained on the drive. After a successful two point conversion run by Watson, Lowell led 16-7.

Lowell scored twice in the fourth quarter to put the game away. After a 45 yard run by Dean, the quarterback ran in from 5 yards out to give Lowell a 22-7 lead with 8:18 to play. Dean connected with Blake Lyman from 11 yards out at the 2:30 mark to extend the lead to 30-7.

The Red Arrows rushed for 198 yards on 44 attempts. Watson finished with 63 yards on 16 carries.

Western totaled 112 yards of offense. The Warriors compiled 54 yards on 17 carries and completed 5-of-12 pass attempts for 58 yards and a touchdown. Julian Pierce led Western with 41 yards on two carries, the majority of those yards came on a 47 yard reverse late in the third quarter.

Renn Osborne added an interception on Western's final possession.

Lowell travels to Forest Hills Central next Thursday to face the Rangers. Central defeated TC Central 40-30 on Thursday night.