Lowell: Wright the wrongs

Updated: August 18, 2011 3:36PM

When asked to take a break during Lowell’s team camp a few weeks ago, Tyler Wright had an interesting response.

“No, I had my break last year,” the senior offensive and defensive lineman said. “I don’t want to be taken off the field this season.”

Wright spent almost all of his junior year on the sidelines after dislocating his right kneecap and tearing the patellar tendon against Kankakee Valley.

Surgery and an arduous four-month rehabilitation followed in preparation for his senior year.

Dr. Tom Klootwyk, a surgeon for the Indianapolis Colts, took a piece of bone from Wright’s shin to help repair the damage. Wires were placed in the kneecap to keep it from sliding over again.

While Wright’s knee is supposedly 100 percent, he still plans to wear a brace just in case.

“It’s only a knee,” he said. “I’m jacked for the season. When they told me I needed surgery and wouldn’t be back last year, I felt like a fat kid who got his cake taken away from him. I just sunk. It was bad. I wanted to be there for the team and everything.”

Except for the Highland game (when he had surgery), Wright was on the sidelines to support his teammates all season.

“Not playing was the hardest thing for me,” he said. “I wanted to help, but couldn’t.”

The team finished 6-4, including an embarrassing 44-13 defeat at Concord in the sectional opener.

“It was pretty devastating,” Wright said. “It was the first time we lost in the sectional in seven years. That’s not how we roll. When the game ended, Jeremy Crocker came up to me and said: ‘This isn’t happening next year.’ We both realized right then we had to step up and get things rolling for this year.”

Wright and his teammates want to bring Red Devil Pride back this season.

“We need to gain our respect back,” he said. “No one owes us anything. We have to come into this season with the mindset we have something to prove. Other teams might think 6-4 is a good season, but we have to do better than that. We owe it to our coaching staff. We owe it to our program. We owe it to RDP.

“Our motto here is: ‘Leave the program better than you found it.’ We didn’t like what we found at the end of last season. We need to get back to smash-mouth, in-your-face football. That’s what we want to do.”

Lowell coach Keith Kilmer looks forward to having a healthy Wright this fall.

“When he got hurt last year, we had to change everything we did,” he said. “It was a tough loss for us. We didn’t have the depth. His attitude, leadership and work ethic, brings the whole team up another level. His physical presence on the field is going to make an impact. He’s a Red Devil. He plays the game the way it needs to be played.”

Coach

Keith Kilmer

record

At school: 6-4 (second year)

Overall: 6-4 (second year)

Last season

Lost 44-13 to Concord in sectional opener

Key returnees

OT/DT Tyler Wright

OL/DL Luke Mitrisin

LB/QB Jeremy Crocker

OL/DL Scott Pitrowski

FB/LB Austin Magley

Key losses

ATH Cole Midgett

RB/LB Jordan Juarez

OL/LB Mike Sekuloski

OL/DL Dominic Rebesco

OL/DL Jay Trappani

Season outlook

After a year of transition and dealing with all the issues involving new leadership at the top, Lowell coach Keith Kilmer firmly believes his players are looking forward to this season.

“We’re more comfortable with the players and there’s a more confident feeling in the air about what’s going on here,” he said. “It’s less about the change now and more about getting back to normal and concentrating on Red Devil football. Last year we had to deal with a lot of issues — you couldn’t really avoid it because it was there — but we’ve had a great summer. It’s a good group of kids to be around.”

Junior Bryan Thomas has the edge at quarterback. He’s a real threat as a runner and should provide leadership. The ground game will be by committee unless a star emerges from a group of talented backs like Zach Wolfe, Clark Mikesell, Nick Hamilton and George Fields. They should find plenty of room to run with Tyler Wright and Luke Mitrisin leading the offensive line.

Postseason

Class 4A Sectional 10 (Hobart, Kankakee Valley, Lowell,
Mishawaka, New Prairie, S.B. Clay, S.B. Riley, S.B. Washington)

Schedule

Aug. 19 Crown Point

Aug. 26 at Morton

Sept. 2 at Kankakee Valley

Sept. 9 Griffith

Sept. 16 Highland

Sept. 23 at Hobart

Sept. 30 Hammond

Oct. 7 at Munster

Oct. 14 Andrean

HISTORY LESSON

Season Record

2001 5-7, 0-5

2002 6-5, 2-3

2003 11-2, 6-1

2004 9-4, 4-3

2005 11-4, 4-3

2006 7-6, 3-4

2007 13-2, 5-1

2008 13-1, 6-0

2009 13-2, 5-1

2010 6-4, 4-2

Sectional titles: 1992, 1994, 1999, 2003-09

Regional titles: 1994, 1999, 2005, 2007-09

Semistate titles: 2005, 2007, 2009

State titles: 2005

Roster

No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos.

1 Edward Simmons 5-8 149 10 WR/DB

2 Jeremy Crocker 6-2 190 12 FB/LB

3 Seth Anderson 5-10 157 10 QB/LB

4 Daniel Garza 5-10 164 10 FB/LB

5 Daniel Reyes 5-7 156 12 WR/DB

6 George Fields 5-11 160 10 RB/LB

7 Tyler Kristoff 6-3 211 10 TE/LB

8 Tyler Hamm 5-8 151 12 WR/DB

9 Michael Hilbrich 5-11 157 11 WR/DB

10 Wesley Hardin 5-11 147 11 WR/DB

12 Cody Pate 5-9 154 11 WR/DB

13 Bryan Thomas 5-9 157 12 QB/DB

14 Aaron Hamm 6-3 180 10 WR/DB

20 Zachary Wolfe 5-7 162 12 RB/DB

21 Clark Mikesell 5-9 163 12 RB/DB

22 Kennith Hughes 5-10 154 10 TE/LB

23 Nicholas Kijurna 6-3 226 12 TE/LB

24 Nicholas Hamm 6-0 195 11 FB/DE

25 Austin Magley 5-9 186 12 FB/LB

26 Paul Mauer 5-11 172 10 FB/LB

29 Caleb Raby 5-10 141 10 WR/DB

30 Tyler Harber 6-3 191 10 TE/DE

31 Nicholas Hamilton 5-9 163 12 RB/DB

32 Mitchell Leckorone 6-5 191 11 TE/LB

34 Anthony Mauer 6-3 186 11 TE/LB

42 Zachary Kirin 6-0 160 10 TE/LB

50 Brandon Reed 5-7 226 12 OL/DL

52 Wroe King 5-11 190 12 OL/DE

54 Ty Cook 5-10 191 10 OL/DE

55 Sebastian Zagarena 5-8 177 10 OL/LB

56 Anthony Lopez 6-0 212 10 OL/LB

57 Kameron King 5-11 188 10 OL/DL

58 Jeffrey Cummins 5-8 203 11 OL/DL

60 Michael Anderson 5-10 204 10 OL/DL

61 Jefferey Allen 5-8 189 10 OL/DL

62 Marjan Sitnikoski 5-9 192 11 OL/DL

64 Ryan Patterson 5-10 222 11 OL/DL

66 Tyler Wright 6-4 243 12 OL/DE

67 Trenton Espravnik 6-1 209 11 OL/DL

68 Jacob Hayden 5-11 266 12 OL/DL

70 Luke Mitrisin 6-3 308 12 OL/DL

74 Eric Groebner 5-11 283 11 OL/DL

75 Scott Pitrowski 6-3 276 12 OL/DL

78 Spencer Kersey 6-2 226 11 OL/DE

83 Austin Poortenga 5-9 120 10 WR/DB

88 Tyler Milby 5-9 165 11 TE/LB

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