Spencer, East Grand Rapids break away from Lowell

EGR's Kirk Spencer (right) hauls in a catch over a Lowell defender

Apart from keeping you alive for the first 18-years of your life, it is your parents’ job to impart upon you certain life lessons.  Things like always chew with your mouth closed, don’t run with scissors, and always open the door for a lady.  And after their 27-6 deconstruction of Lowell on Friday night, we can all take note of a new life lesson: Don’t get behind in the score to East Grand Rapids.

The previously-undefeated Red Arrows found themselves in exactly that position midway through the third quarter after East Grand Rapids running back Kirk Spencer took a punt back 71-yards to the house, leaving one unfortunate Red Arrow’s knees buckled and increasing a one-score lead to two.  Suddenly down 20-6 in the second half and in need of an offensive spark, the Red Arrows had no choice but to start throwing.  And the Pioneers defense knew it.

Three of the Red Arrows subsequent six plays were turnovers, one of them a 15-yard pick-six by Pioneer defensive back Dion Jobe.  15-minutes and two additional interceptions later, Lowell was no longer undefeated.

“Once we were up we were just trying to put pressure on (Lowell quarterback Gabe Dean),” said East Grand Rapids coach Peter Stuursma. “It’s a two way street there, in that we’re putting pressure on the quarterback and then our defensive backs are making plays on the ball.  ”

While surely an unpleasant task, someone had to throw those interceptions and take those lumps from EGR’s oversized Voss brothers in front of 6,500 rowdy fans in Memorial Stadium, in much the same way that someone had to lose an eye to a scissors-jogging mishap.  In either case, those involved learned a valuable lesson.

Great quarterbacks are not born, they’re revealed with a chisel

According to the end of game box-score, Friday was not one of Lowell quarterback Gabe Dean’s better performances.  But to take those numbers at face value would be only a portion of the truth, and an injustice to the machismo that Dean displayed in the biggest game of his young career.

As a quarterback, you earn your paycheck on third-down and long, when everyone in the stadium knows that you’re going to pass (including EGR’s vaunted defensive front).  As a sophomore quarterback, playing in front of more eyeballs than he has in his life, Dean coolly converted for the first-down in 5-of-8 of these situations (would have been six, but a first-down pass was dropped by a Lowell receiver).  A senior would have been proud.

Gabe Dean has long been a talented football player.  On Friday, despite the loss, he became a quarterback.

“Break Away”

In very few situations has one player been able to impact the outcome of a football game in as many different ways as East Grand Rapids stud Kirk Spencer.  He did his work on the ground, grinding out over 90-yards as a running back.  As a receiver, he caught a lofted fade pass from quarterback Ryan Elble in the endzone for his first touchdown.  He scored his second touchdown as a punt returner, sprinting away from the defense for a 71-yard score.  And on defense, he snagged an interception and returned it to the Lowell 7-yard line.

Talking to reporters after the game, steam slowly rising from his head, you could see the writing on Spencer’s eye black.  “Break Away.”  Not only did he Break Away, Spencer was in a class by himself on Friday.

“Kirk Spencer is a special athlete,” said Stuursma.  “You saw it, he was electrifying tonight.”

Mainstream coverage

• The Venerable Jane Bos covered the game for The Grand Rapids Press

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