Page 22 Regionsports.com

By Chris Lannin – RSM Managing EditorNow THAT’S A Rivalry - Griffith Versus Lowell As Good As It Gets

There are several different criteria that can constitute a great football rivalry. Sometimes a rivalry is defined simply in terms of how hard fought the games between the two schools have been. In terms of years played, Crown Point-Lowell, Clark-Whiting and Morton-Hammond High certainly fit the bill for a great rivalry. When it comes to conference battles or sectional match-ups, Griffith-Andrean, Crown Point-Merrillville, Griffith-Hobart and Griffith-Morton have what it takes to make up a great rivalry. There are border wars like Munster-Highland and Lake Station-River Forest. In this type of rivalry, you can throw out the record book because beating the next town or the cross town rival can salvage the season. A bad year can be forgotten in a hurry if victory over the hated arch-rival is achieved. While all of the match-ups mentioned above are great Region football rivalries, none have anything on the rivalry between Griffith and Lowell. The two schools have met on the gridiron at least once every year since Griffith started playing football in 1934, matching the “Battle of 119th Street” as the second oldest continuous rivalry in the state. And although the overall record in the rivalry (49-29-3) reflects a twenty victory margin in favor of the Panthers, since Russ Radtke and Kirk Kennedy arrived on the Region scene in the early ‘90’s, the Griffith-Lowell rivalry is like a slugfest between the Packers and Bears.

Lowell grabbed seven straight wins to open the series before Griffith managed their first victory in 1942. A scoreless tie in 1947 typified the next seven years, as the Panthers and Red Devils split the other six games. Griffith dominated over the next nine years, with 8 straight wins interrupted only by a 6-6 tie in 1955. After a Lowell victory broke the Griffith streak in 1959, the Panthers rattled off another six straight, with a 20-20 tie against the legendary 1963 Panthers being all the Red Devils could muster over that time. Beginning in 1967 under Coach Les Klein, the pendulum began to swing back the Red Devil’s way, as Lowell would capture seven of the next nine games in the series, including a victory over Les Thornton’s first Griffith team in 1975. But 1975 was the only time that Lowell would ever beat Griffith under Thornton, as the Panthers defeated Lowell an astonishing seventeen straight times, including victories over Kirk Kennedy’s first two Red Devil squads in 1991 and 1992. Just as Klein, Thornton and Kennedy were all introduced to the rivalry with losses, Kennedy’s first win in the series greeted new Griffith Coach Russ Radtke with a 38-14 defeat in 1993. However, beginning the following season, Radtke quickly put his own stamp on the rivalry as the Panthers rattled off six straight wins, including a win in the first

sectional meeting between the two foes in 1996. Not to be outdone, Kennedy and the Red Devils answered with three straight victories, including a 17-14 win of their own in the 1999 sectional championship. Griffith returned the favor with a pair of wins in 2001, including a 10-7 victory in the sectional championship before the Red Devils tasted victory in the next two contests, including a 33-0 blanking of the Panthers in 2003. Griffith defeated Lowell in the next four games, with 21-0 and 35-0 whitewashes in 2005 and 2006 sandwiched in between a pair of one point Panther victories, including a 29-28 overtime win in 2007. The Lowell squad Griffith blanked 21-0 in 2005 would go on to capture the 4A state title. Since the Panthers 2007 overtime win, Lowell has won the last four meetings between the two. Lowell began the streak by avenging that 2007 regular season overtime loss with a 20-13 victory in the regional. Last year, after a fifteen point regular season win, the Devils captured another regional title at the Panthers expense, earning a hard fought 19-13 victory in the mud at the Inferno. Although Griffith owns a twenty victory margin in the rivalry over the years, the difference in the series has really been the STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 39- SEE Lowell

Games like this one in 2008 typify the Lowell - Griffith rivalry. Photo by Roland Lewis

When the Panthers & Red Devils meet, its always a physical battle. Photo by Roland Lewis