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Despite inexperience, expectations still high for Lowell in 2014
LOWELL – After graduating a large number of players from last year’s team, Lowell will have plenty of new faces in the starting lineup this fall, as the Red Arrows return four starters, two on each side of the ball.
But even with new starters and some inexperience, Lowell has the same expectation for itself as it always has.
Head coach Noel Dean said that he feels the track record that the Red Arrows have is something that drives the players on his team to be successful and try to reach the same heights that previous teams at Lowell have.
“I don’t know if they’re any greater than what they have for themselves,” he said. “These kids have grown up around success here in Lowell, so they want to have some of those similar experiences that they’ve watched their older brothers or cousins have and they know it takes a lot of hard work.”
Among the returning starters for Lowell is four year starter Josh Colegrove, who will lineup at linebacker for the Red Arrows once again and will help lead the defense.
Offensively, Lowell returns left tackle Carson Murley, who will enter his second year as a starter.
Dean said that the success that his team has had is something that proves to his players on a regular basis that if they put in the work like the teams from years past, it will pay off in the long run with a successful season.
“You don’t have to convince them so much that hard work pays off,” he said. “And they’ve seen kids have success prior to their arrival, so they’re pretty fired up.”
This season, one of the key players who will likely be stepping into a starting role for the Red Arrows will be junior quarterback Ryan Stevens, who will look to fill the void left by last year’s starter, Kyler Shurlow.
Last season with Shurlow under center, Lowell finished with a 10-1 record overall and picked up the OK White championship with an unblemished 5-0 record.
Already a week into practices this fall, Dean is pleased with how his team has worked and expects to be able to tell what he has on this year’s team after the four way scrimmage where Lowell will meet Howell, Lake Orion and Holt.
“Our kids worked hard and they get after it pretty good and the first week was a good one,” he said. “We have a big scrimmage coming up on Wednesday down at Howell, so right now we’re trying to get some stuff finished up so we can prepare for the scrimmage and then get into the scrimmage Wednesday and we’ll get an evaluation of how we do against some good teams and then we’ll get ready for week one.”
Lowell will open up the regular season against Canada Prep Academy on Thursday, August 28.
