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For the second time in three seasons, Evansville Reitz reached the summit of Class 4A football defeating Lowell, 23-9, for the state championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indiananpolis.

The win topped off an undefeated season for the No. 6 Panthers (15-0) who beat the same opponent as in 2007. It was the first championship for Reitz coach Tony Lewis.

Cuda Dimmett caught a pair of touchdowns and Jeffrey Hudson another in a big first half for the Panthers.

Dimmett caught a beautiful 42 yard toss from quarterback Matt McIntosh down the left side for the game’s first score just 1:31 into the game. The PAT missed for a 6-0 lead. Later in the quarter, Reitz used some trickery as McIntosh threw a lateral to Jeffrey Hudson on the right side who then threw across the field 46 yards to Dimmett for a 13-0 lead.

Boje Pejoski’s 23-yard field goal at the 6:48 mark of the second quarter got Lowell on the board at 13-3.

The Reitz defense came up big just before halftime.

With about a minute to go and Lowell driving, the Red Devils went for it on fourth and nine at the Reitz 35 yard line. But quarterback Ray Skamay was sacked for a 12 yard loss giving the Panthers the ball near midfield with :52 second left.

After a short running play, McIntosh hit Hudson for 16 yards and then followed up with him on the next play for a 35 yard scoring strike to make it 20-3 with :24 seconds left.

Lowell scored its only touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter as Brandon Grubbe carried from two yards away. He would finish the game with 160 yards on 30 carries. The point after was blocked and Reitz held a 20-9 advantage. The score was set up two plays earlier on Skamay’s 34-yard pass to Joseph Bell on third down that put the ball at the Reitz four.

Hudson’s 28 yard field goal with 9:18 left turned out to be the final points of the game.

McIntosh finished the game 9 for 17 for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Dimmett finished with four catches for 121 yards and Hudson caught four for 112.

No. 7 Lowell was making its third appearance in the 4A state championship game in five years under coach Kirk Kennedy. The 2005 state champions finished 13-2.

Evansville Reitz’s Erik Bryant Named Eskew Mental Attitude Award Recipient
Erik Bryant of Evansville F.J. Reitz High School was named winner of the 2009 Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award for Class 4A Football by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee.

The award is presented annually to a senior in each classification who best demonstrates excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. The award is named in honor of the third commissioner of the IHSAA who guided the Association from 1962 to 1976.

Bryant has been a four year member of Student Council, National Honor Society, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is a regular volunteer in his youth group serving as a Thanksgiving basket deliverer and contributing his help to blood drives.

Bryant was a member of Reitz’s undefeated 4A state championship team two years ago. He is a two-time member of the Academic All-City Team (2008, 2009). He is known as an unselfish teammate who looks at the Reitz football team as a family. Erik is also a three-year varsity baseball player.
He carries a 3.5 GPA and is a member of the Magna Cum Laude Honor Roll. He is undecided on his college and major at this time.

He is the son of Kevin Bryant and the late Lori Bryant.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, presented a scholarship check for $1,000.00 to F.J. Reitz High School in the name of Erik Bryant.  Since 1989, more than $575,000 in college scholarships has been presented by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance to deserving high school students in Indiana.

Class 4A Game Quotes

Evansville Reitz Coach Tony Lewis
“All the credit goes to our seniors. We had 20 seniors that bought into what we were doing. They worked their butts off. The juniors and sophomores fell in line and we had a great staff.”

“You know, we have the best staff in the state and I’m really proud of them.”

“We felt like we could run on them, but they really took that away from us. Matt (McIntosh) made some nice throws. Cuda Dimett made a big catch early and that kind of set the tone.”

“We had some guys step up and make plays. Cuda made two huge catches. Jeff Hudson made a big catch at the end of the half that gave us another touchdown.”

“We asked em’ in that last time out, “What do you like?”. Jeff (Hudson) is as smart of a football player as I’ve been around. And he said, “Coach, we can get them on the 7X”. And we got them on the 7X. Matt threw a great ball and Jeff finished the job.”

“Without a doubt this is the best feeling in the world. I’m excited and excited for our fans. They have led us through the whole playoffs and lead us through some of the games like last week against Cathedral. We get a lot of energy through them every night.”

(About 2009-10 championship) We’ll enjoy it tonight, Christmas is coming and we’re going to enjoy that and these guys know, we’ll get right back to work in the weight room right after that.”

Lowell Coach Kirk Kennedy
“We dug ourselves a pretty big hole. They kept playing, but we gave them a couple of touchdowns. Our kids fought to the bitter end and it just wasn’t enough.”

“We’re losing a great senior class. They provided great leadership down the stretch. The fact that we’ve improved so much is a great attribute to the leadership of the kids in our program. The kids in this program are going to be missed. We always talk about how we leave the program the way we found it. And our senior class did exactly how they found it.”

“You know we knew that a big key heading into this game would be the start. We gave up some big plays, but I liked the way our kids fought back. I liked the way we played in the third quarter, but it just wasn’t enough.”

“It’s hard to say anything bad about these kids. We know how hard they work. It just wasn’t enough tonight. We traded punches pretty even with them. But we dug a hole too deep to get out of tonight.”