Sunday November 15th 2009

Written by Derek Gless

LOWELL-The Red Arrows won their fourth regional championship in school history with a 35-14 victory over the Portage Central Mustangs.

Sophomore quarterback Gabe Dean completed 13-of-15 passes for 159 yards and threw a touchdown pass to senior Derek Cornish. Dean also rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown.

Senior running back Austin Graham added 136 yards and three touchdowns. Lowell rushed for 278 yards on 53 carries.

The Red Arrows held Portage Central to just three yards on the opening possession of the game.

Lowell's offense would have more success on their opening drive. The Red Arrows put together a 14 play 76 yard drive, that ate up much of the first quarter, to give Lowell a 7-0 lead. Dean completed 3-of-3 passes for 24 yards and rushed for 30 yards on five carries. Graham capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run and added 22 yards on seven carries.

Portage Central's offense would have some success on their next drive. After a fifteen yard pass interference penalty against Lowell, junior quarterback Kyle Cutler added a 29 yard run to put the Mustangs in Lowell territory. The Lowell defense would step up, stopping the Mustangs on a fourth down attempt at the Red Arrow 24 yard line.

The Red Arrows took a 14-0 lead on their next possession going 76 yards in five plays. Dean completed two passes to Cornish on the drive for 51 yards, including a 39 yard touchdown pass.

Lowell's defense would force the Mustangs to go three and out on their next possession. Following the punt the Red Arrows would go 57 yards in four plays to extend their lead. Graham broke free on a 40 yard run that would setup an 8-yard touchdown run by Dean. Kyle Fitzpatrick added the extra point to give Lowell a 21-0 lead.

The Mustangs would answer on their next possession going 64 yards in 10 plays to cut Lowell's lead to 21-7. Cutler completed 2-of-3 passes on the drive for 31 yards and scored on a 20-yard quarterback scramble with 5:13 remaining in the first half.

Lowell would answer just before the half when Graham scored from 1-yard out with six seconds remaining. The Red Arrows went 68 yards in 15 plays to extend their lead to 28-7. Dean completed 5-of-6 passes for 35 yards and junior Matt Houston had three receptions on the drive for 31 yards. Graham carried to the ball seven times for 23 yards and the touchdown.

The Red Arrows scored on all four of their first half possessions.

Lowell's offense continued to have success on their opening possession of the second half. Dean completed 2-of-2 passes for 40 yards, including a 33 yard completion to Houston, and rushed for 26 yards on four attempts. Lowell moved the ball 77 yards in ten plays down to the Portage Central one yard line. The Mustang defense would drop Dean for a two yard loss on fourth down to keep Lowell out of the end zone.

Portage Central would capitalize on the defensive stop. Facing a third and eight from their own five yard line, Cutler hit running back Spencer Munson on a screen pass for a 10 yard gain and a first down. On the next play Munson would break free for an 85 yard touchdown run to cut the Lowell lead to 28-14 with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter. Munson finished the game with 122 yards on 11 carries.

The Mustang defense would force the Red Arrows to punt on their next possession giving the ball back to the Portage Central offense.

Lowell's defense would not let the Mustang offense get going. Senior linebacker Randy Hogan would sack Cutler twice on the drive forcing the Mustangs to punt the ball back to Lowell.

Portage Central would catch a break on the punt return when the Red Arrows fumbled the ball and the Mustangs recovered in Lowell territory. The Mustangs were unable to take advantage and turned the ball over on downs.

Lowell would score their only touchdown of the second half four plays later when Graham ran in from 2-yards out. Dean set up the touchdown with a 48 yard run. The touchdown gave Lowell a 35-14 lead with 5:39 remaining in the game.

Dean accounted for 300 of Lowell's 437 total yards of offense.

Houston led all receivers with five receptions for 73 yards. Cornish added 56 yards on three catches and Keegan Hanragan caught four passes for 31 yards.

Portage Central finished with 251 yards of total offense. The Mustangs rushed for 174 yards on 33 carries and Cutler completed 6-of-15 passes for 77 yards. Tyler Timmermann led all Mustang receivers with a 30 reception on Portage Central's final possession.

Lowell will face Brother Rice (8-4) next Saturday at 1PM at Howell high school. The Warriors defeated Midland 49-27 to advance.