Tuesday November 22nd 2011

Written by Lowell Football

MT PLEASANT—Lowell advanced to their third straight state final with a 42-35 overtime victory over Walled Lake Western.

The Warriors scored on their opening possession to take an early 7-0 lead. Sophomore quarterback Kyle Bambard connected with senior Conner Ruby for a 21-yard touchdown. The score capped a five play 64 yard drive for Western. Bambard completed 3-of-3 passes on the drive for 59 yards.

The Red Arrows cut the Warriors lead to 7-6 when a blocked punt set Lowell up at the two yard line. Dean capitalized on the special teams play by scoring from 1-yard out.

Lowell threatened on their next possession. After being pinned at their own one yard line to start the drive, the Red Arrows marched 97 yards down to the Western two yard line. A fumble on first and goal gave the ball back to the Warriors. Dean completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive for 67 yards and rushed for 21 more.

The Warriors led 7-6 at the half.

Dean gave Lowell a 14-7 lead mid-way through the third quarter when he hit Jeff Houston on a deep pass for a 45 yard touchdown. J.P. North caught the two point conversion. The touchdown capped a five play 60 yard drive for the Red Arrows.

Lowell’s defense forced a fumble on Western’s next possession. A Red Arrow defender hit the Warrior’s quarterback from behind and forced a fumble at mid-field. Reed Stormzand jumped on the ball.

The Red Arrows took advantage of the turnover by going 49 yards in four plays. Dean connected with Blake Lyman for a 35 yard gain to set up his 1-yard touchdown plunge. Grant Breuker added the extra point to give Lowell a 21-7 lead with 4:28 to play in the third quarter.

Walled Lake Western answered just over two minutes later when quarterback C.J. McGorisk hit Nik Heglin down the sideline for a 42-yard touchdown. The score capped a six play 82 yard drive for the Warriors. Western was 5-of-6 for all 82 yards on the drive.

The Warriors regained possession when Lowell fumbled the ball on the kick return and Western recovered the ball at the Red Arrow 24 yard line. Three plays later Western was back in the end zone when Bambard hit Brent Zdebski for a 3-yard score. The big play on the drive was a 21 yard scramble by Bambard down to the three. Lowell blocked the point after and retained the lead at 21-20.

Just over a minute later Lowell extended their lead to 28-20 when senior running back Josh Addington broke through the middle of the line for a 49-yard touchdown. The Red Arrows went 68 yards in four plays.

After Lowell’s defense forced a punt on Western’s next possession, the Warrior’s special teams pinned Lowell at their own one yard line for the second time in the game. This time Lowell was unable move the ball out the shadow of their own goal post and had to punt.

Western caught the punt just inside mid-field and returned it to the Red Arrow 41 yard line. A penalty for a late hit out of bounds put Western at the Lowell 26 yard line. On the first play of the drive Bambard connected with Cam Vieaux in the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown. A two point conversion attempt failed and Lowell remained in the lead at 28-26.

Lowell went three and out on their next possession. Four plays later the Warriors regained the lead. Alex Buchanan scored from 3-yards out to give Western a 32-28 lead with 5:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Warriors failed to convert on a two point pass. Heglin caught a 38 yard pass on the 59 yard drive to set up the score.

Dean would lead Lowell on a ten play 81 yard drive to regain the lead, 35-32, with one minute remaining in the quarter. The Red Arrows converted a fourth and eight early in the drive when Dean hit J.P North on the sideline for a first down. Dean threw for 68 yards on the drive including a 10-yard touchdown to Lyman. The senior receiver had caught what looked to be the go ahead touchdown a few plays earlier, but the touchdown was called back because of holding.

The Warriors weren’t done. Bambard completed three passes for 38 yards and picked up eight more on a run to set his team up at the Lowell 30 yard line with five seconds remaining. Bamabrd then connected on a 47-yard field goal with 1.8 second left to send the game into overtime.

Lowell went on offense to start overtime. After losing three yard on the first play, Dean found Lyman for a 13-yard touchdown to give the Red Arrows a 42-35 lead.

The Red Arrow defense sealed the victory by forcing four straight incompletions for the Warriors, including batting down two passes at the line of scrimmage. Bambard was forced to throw early on fourth down because of pressure from freshman Josh Colegrove.

Dean finished the game 16-of-23 for 316 yards and three touchdowns. Lyman led Lowell with eight receptions for 174 yards. Houston caught three passes for 70 yards and North hauled in four passes for 51 yards.

Bambard completed 20-of-36 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns for the Warriors. Vieaux led Western with 10 receptions for 159 yards.

The victory sends Lowell back to Ford Field. The Red Arrows will face Brother Rice (9-4). The Warriors lost three games by just one point, including two in overtime.