Tuesday October 27th 2009

Written by Bill Dollar

Lowell—The Red Arrow offense rushed for 467 yards on 52 carries on their way to a 54-14 week nine victory over the visiting Northview Wildcats.

Sophomore quarterback Gabe Dean attempted only four passes, completing two for 8 yards and a touchdown. Dean added 188 yards on the ground on 14 attempts.

Lowell opened the scoring on their second possession of the game when senior Austin Graham ran the ball in from 7 yards out to give the Red Arrows a 7-0 lead. The touchdown capped a six play 52 yard drive. On the drive, senior Ryan Olep rushed for 27 yards on two carries.

Northview would answer the Lowell touchdown just over a minute later. Quarterback James Dykema hit receiver Ryan Beckett for a 56 yard touchdown. The three play 73 yard drive tied the game at 7-7.

Midway through the second quarter Lowell regained the lead on a 55 yard touchdown run by Dean. The five play 82 yard drive gave Lowell a 14-7 lead.

The Wildcats would have some success on their next drive. Dykema completed a 39 yard pass to Trent Gregory to put Northview in position to answer the Lowell touchdown. The defense, however, would force the Wildcats to punt. The big defensive play on the drive came from Jon Destine who sacked Dykema for a ten yard loss.

It would not take long for the offensive to capitalize on the defensive stop. On the second play of the drive Dean broke free down the Lowell sideline for his second touchdown of the quarter. The 85 yard run capped a two play 87 yard drive and gave Lowell a 21-7 lead with just under three minutes to play in the half.

The defense forced a three and out on Northview's next possession giving the ball back to the Red Arrows right before the half. Lowell would only pick up one first down before having to punt the ball back to Northview with under a minute left.

A low snap on the punt, however, resulted in punter Derek Cornish's knee hitting the ground as he received the snap. The turnover on downs gave the Wildcats the ball at the Lowell 17 yard line.

Northview took advantage of the mistake when Dykema hit Cam Delger in the corner of the end zone as time expired in the half for a 7 yard touchdown. The late touchdown cut Lowell's lead to 21-14.

Lowell took over in the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 26-0. Graham scored on a 44 yard run on the first drive of the second half to extend the Red Arrow lead to 27-14.

On Lowell's next possession the Red Arrows went 62 yard in 10 plays to extend their lead to 33-14. Dean hit Keegan Hanrahan on a tight end screen for a 7-yard touchdown. Graham carried the ball five times for 44 yards on the drive, including a 30 yard run.

Northview's next possession ended just two plays in. The Lowell defense pressured Dykema into a hurried throw which was intercepted by senior Randy Hogan and returned 38-yards for a touchdown. The touchdown extended Lowell's lead to 41-14.

The Red Arrow defense continued their strong second half play forcing the Wildcats to punt on their next possession. On the punt attempt, junior Jon Destine blocked the Northview punt and Keegan Hanrahan recovered the block for Lowell at the Northview nine yard line.

After a 15 yard penalty set the Red Arrow back on their first play after the punt block, Graham put the ball in the end zone with a 24 yard run. The touchdown gave Lowell a 47-14 lead.

Senior Pat Martin added a one yard touchdown run with five minutes left in the fourth quarter to give Lowell a 54-14 victory over Northview. Martin finished with 37 yards on six carries.

Austin Graham rushed for 188 yards on 19 carries and Ryan Olep added 43 yards on six carries.

Lowell's defense held Northview to 66 yards on the ground on 30 attempts. Dykema completed 5-of-16 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

The Red Arrows will face the St. Johns Redwings in the first round of the playoffs. The game will be played at Lowell on Friday. St. Johns is the school Lowell defeated 38-17 in 2004 to win the division three state championship.