"13 On Your Sidelines" player of the year Gabe Dean
Lowell players and coaches celebrate the semi-final final over Walled Lake Western
LOWELL, Mich. (WZZM) The 2010 season ended with a sour taste for the Lowell Red Arrows. Lowell's bid for back-to-back state championships fell apart in the second half of the title game. The Red Arrows squandered a 21-10 lead with a turnover-plagued half before falling 38-28 to Farmington Hills Harrison.
The Red Arrows are back in the division two finals looking for a better result Friday against 9-4 Birmingham Brother Rice. The championship appearance is the third in a row for Lowell. "It's always exciting to go back," says head coach Noel Dean. "It's the greatest feeling in the world. I'm excited to go back and to have a fifth attempt at a state title is really exciting for our town."
Dean's nephew, starting quarterback and "13 On Your Sidelines" player of the year Gabe Dean, says the team's focus is much sharper than it was a year ago. "I was really feeling it after last year's loss in the state finals. I think our approach as a team last year, we were just happy to be there. This year, the goal is to win it." "As a senior," says wide receiver Blake Lyman, "Not going back (to the finals) would have been a huge disappointment for me and the rest of the seniors. We're really hoping to get a victory this time. We have some unfinished business to do."
The Red Arrows have seen Brother Rice before. Lowell won a state semi-final game against the Warriors 35-14 two years ago. "Like always, they're a super talented team," says Gabe Dean. "It's going to be a great game, great competition. It's going to come down to who wants it more. That's going to be the deciding factor."
Win or lose, the Red Arrows plan to savor the experience in their final football game of 2011. "It's absolutely unbelievable," says senior running back Josh Addington. "To work this hard throughout the season and be with the team, to just have the opportunity again, it's just overwhelming. It really is."
The Lowell-Brother Rice division 2 state championship game kicks off at 1:00 Friday afternoon at Ford Field in Detroit. Be sure to catch the highlights and postgame reaction on WZZM 13 Sports Friday night. Good luck to the Red Arrows from all of us at "13 On Your Sidelines!"