By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SAINT PAUL, Ore.– It’s been a few weeks since either Lowell or St. Paul had been tested in this fashion.
But the two 2A Top 10 teams rose to the occasion to start the game, and the first half saw the Buckaroos going into the halftime break, leading the Red Devils 20-15. They both brought their A-Game. The physicality, the aggression, and the answers as they battled through the slick conditions that the day’s rain brought going into kickoff.
“It was a great game. That first half, we were both battling back-and-forth, we were both playing on our A-game,” said St. Paul Quarterback Noah Hockett.
The big chunk plays were a theme in the opening 12 minutes between the two squads that resulted in the Bucks leading Lowell 12-6 after the first quarter.Branson Cook, in his second game back from injury, scored off a 66-yard screen play and a 59 yard run to help St. Paul take the lead into the second 12 minutes of the game. Carson Ewan had a big play score of his own for Lowell as he went 68 yards.
The Red Devils’ physicality began to wear on St. Paul in the second quarter, though. They were laying the foundation for what was to come in the second half as they briefly took a 13-12 lead midway through the second frame thanks to a Carter Harris score. The Red Devils senior quarterback scored three times in the game, twice on the ground and one in the air to help Lowell keep pace with St. Paul going into the second half. Harris ran for over 100 yards on the ground and threw for around 200 yards in the game.
“I played alright, i don’t think I played bad, but I definitely thought I could have done better on my own playside,” said Harris. “I think my leadership is what brought our team together a little more. I was yelling at our guys to get us fired up.”
The Buckaroos regained the lead soon after Harris’ score, but Lowell cut the then 20-12 lead to 20-15 going into the halftime break thanks to a Field Goal at the buzzer. Coming out of the halftime break, however, it was all Red Devils.
Their offense finished drives, their defense made the stops, and it resulted in them retaking the lead from St. Paul and steadily grew it. Lowell led 30-20 after three quarters and added an insurance score in the fourth, off a Ben Thurman nine-yard score 2:32 left in the game, to help solidfy what would become a 36-20 victory on this day.
“We just came together. That was the craziest that I’ve ever seen my team play. We just played amazing tonight. We had everything to a ‘T’, it was perfect,” said Harris. “We all knew that it was going to be a hard game, but we were ready for it. We came together as a team, and we played our butts off.”
Lowell finishes the regular season this next week against Central Linn at Central Linn. St. Paul will look to build some momentum for the playoffs when they head to Stayton to play Regis on Friday.
“We just got to work on what we got to improve on. I think we can improve on everything. Tackling, blocking, whatever it is. We’re all improving as a team,” said Hockett.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
