Jake Lowell (No. 31), seen here trailing Francis Fay (No. 3) during action against Evanston, returns to the field after being sidelined with an ankle injury. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYNN TRAUTMANN
Jake Lowell found himself on a football field, in full uniform, last weekend. Big deal? It certainly was, to Lowell, a New Trier senior middle linebacker/defensive lineman/fullback in the fall and a wrestler in the winter.
“I thought it [his prep football career] was over,” said Lowell, following NT’s 38-17 defeat of visiting Evanston Township High School on Sept. 23. “I thought I’d never wrestle for New Trier again.”
The 5-foot-11, 210-pound had suffered a severely sprained right ankle in a 45-28 loss at Fremd on Sept. 9. His Game Face had turned into Anguish Face as he sat on a sideline bench and a trainer examined the ankle. Lowell later stood and tried to put weight on his right foot. He could not. He returned to a seat on the metal bench, feeling frustrated and helpless.
Lowell had to sit out the next game, against Palatine High School on Sept. 16. A doctor eventually told him he could not injure the ankle any further than he had. Hope. A sliver of sunshine. The patient gulped both doses. The patient suited up for the Central Suburban League South opener last weekend and toted the first handoff from senior quarterback Clay Czyzynski for four yards. He would play some downs as a defensive lineman and carry the ball two more times and block for Czyzynski and senior running back Francis Fay. Busy, busy. Effective, effective.
NT rushed for 276 yards against Evanston’s Wildkits (3-2, 0-1).
“Jake,” Trevians football coach Brian Doll said, “made an amazing block on one of Fay’s touchdowns. I can’t wait to see it again on film. He’s a hard-nosed kid, with speed and strength and toughness. Such a tough kid. Loves football. Is passionate about football.”
Near the end of the game on Sept. 23, with the result no longer in doubt, Lowell fielded several questions from a few youngsters, ball boys, along NT’s sideline. One is a wrestler, like Lowell. They wanted to know about the blood on Lowell’s uniform and how it got there. They wanted to know about the frayed part of his uniform. Lowell told them, regaled them.
About 30 minutes later, following the postgame team huddle, Lowell, smiling, exited the home field in Northfield.
“Horrible,” Lowell said while limping slightly, referring to how his tightly taped right ankle — minus the benefit of Game Time adrenaline — felt at the moment.
But it was fit enough for game action.
Good enough, for Jake Lowell.
“Tenacious and versatile … that’s what I think of when I think of Jake,” said Jim Davis, NT’s sophomore football coach and the school’s strength and conditioning coordinator. “He does a lot for the team, shedding blockers, throwing guys around, playing with a great attitude.”
Lowell, a two-time Class 3A sectional wrestling qualifier (at 170 pounds in 2015, at 182 pounds in ’16) and an all-CSL South football player last fall, was in a good mood after NT’s Senior Night. And why not? His right ankle was serviceable for four quarters, and his team (3-2, 1-0) had halted its brief losing streak at two games. Win-win.
“My job is to wipe the blood off my face and keep our pretty boys pretty and smiling during games,” said Lowell, who bears a slight resemblance to actor Matt Damon.
“Hey, do me favor,” he added. “I promised our ‘O’ linemen I’d mention them. They played a great game tonight.”
He mentioned center Marcel Bauby, guards Joey Artinian and Nick Artinian, tackles Chamberlain Coffee and Liam Hirsch.
Off he went, to catch up with teammates and friends and well-wishers. He was happy. He was in pain.
The former feeling thumped the latter.
Notable: New Trier senior quarterback Clay Czyzynski passed for 156 yards and ran for 97 more, and senior running back Francis Fay rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns (76 yards, three yards, six yards) in NT’s 38-17 defeat of visiting Evanston on Sept. 23. Two of the QB’s nine completions (in 19 attempts) resulted in TDs. Trevians junior wideout Brian Kaiser interrupted “The Clay and Fay Variety Show” a couple of times, coming down with a 33-yard TD reception in the second quarter and catching a 53-yard toss from Czyzynski that set up Fay’s three-yard TD run in the second quarter. … Other significant statistics and moments involving Trevians: senior running back/linebacker Max Rosenthal (39-yard TD reception, pass breakup); senior linebacker Grant Higgins (two stops for no gain); junior running back Peter Murray (six rushes, 32 yards); senior defensive back Daniel Anderson (tackle for loss); senior defensive lineman Blake Field (stop for no gain and quarterback pressure on consecutive plays in the first quarter); senior Max Bryla (special-teams tackle of the night, in the fourth quarter); senior linebacker Chris Notari (tackle for no gain); and junior kicker Sam Rutherford (25-yard field goal, five extra points). … Czyzynski was a part of the most thrilling play of the night and a part of the breathe-easy play of the night. His mad scramble in the backfield — he dropped back, stepped forward, sprinted to his left, pivoted, sprinted to his right — preceded the 53-yard completion to Kaiser late in the second quarter. With NT up 21-10 and the ball on Evanston’s 32-yard line at 1:31 of the third quarter, NT’s offense faced a fourth-and-12. Czyzynski took the snap and raced 14 yards for a first down. Fay ran the ball on the next four plays, the last covering six yards for a TD, his third of the night. His first: a breathless 76-yarder, on the night’s second play from scrimmage.
Jake Lowell with his parents on Parent’s Night. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYNN TRAUTMANN