Lowell Football is a Family Affair

LOWELL – Being a tailback for the Lowell Red Devils is like being an outfielder for the New York Yankees.
Simply put, it screams that you are “The Man” for a very good program.
Lowell junior Tymothy James, a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder, was feeling that vibe last Friday night. His Red Devils were battling Hanover Central in a Northwest Crossroads Conference game.
And, well, it was just one of those nights.
“The line was blocking well. They were opening the holes,” James said of Lowell’s 45-31 victory, in which he rushed for 356 yards and four touchdowns. “Just six yards. If someone would’ve told me I would have gotten it.”
The laughter that followed had a familial flair.
His older brother, Ike, was listening to the game from Nashville, Tennessee. Ike, like Tymothy, was a tailback at Lowell. He owns the program’s single-game rushing record of 362 yards against Munster in 2014.
The James gang has a special place in Lowell football lore.
But the youngster just wished he had one more carry.
“Had I known, I would have got it,” Tymothy said.
His parents, Tim and Lisa, looked on Friday night. The forebears of a prominent Region sports family weren’t following the game yard by yard or sibling by sibling.
Ike graduated in 2016, then starred at Wabash College.
Sister Karina James won the IHSAA state cross country championship in 2020 and is currently the Mid-American Conference champion in cross country and the mile at Toledo.
Annalise graduated from Western Michigan, where she won more running medals than some towns hold collectively.
Brother Malachi, a current football assistant at Lowell, battled injuries in high school but was a very good defensive player when healthy.
“The girls made the boys in our family tougher,” said Tim, principal at Merrillville Intermediate School. He also coached Pop Warner football in Lowell for 17 years.
“I didn’t even know Tymmy was getting close,” he said. “I was just proud of the way the offensive line blocked. Tymmy was just running with the ball.”
Lowell coach Casey McKim was just as proud of the physicality his young team showed against the Wildcats.
“There isn’t a better feeling than moving someone against their will,” he said of his offensive line. “This was the first game where we were getting movement. We’re a young team. We’re only going to get better.”
Lowell (2-2, 1-0 NCC) travels to Highland (1-3, 0-1) on Friday night.
James has carried the ball 111 times for 788 yards and seven touchdowns. He ranks third in the state in rushing yards. Quarterback Gavin Gutierrez also had a big night against Hanover, rushing for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
And, in keeping the family legacy going, Malachi James is an assistant coach this season, along with Brandon Grubbe, Lowell’s all-time leading rusher.
Like Mickey Mantle replacing Joe DiMaggio, it just doesn’t seem to end in this blue-collar town.
It didn’t begin this way for Tymothy, however.
His father didn’t let him play football when he was very young. All his time went into wrestling. Ike was starring for the Red Devils at the time, so little brother watched from the bleachers.
“I always loved football,” Tymothy said. “But I wasn’t allowed to play until third grade. I’ve always been a competitive person. At family events, we’d start wrestling and we’d get yelled at. ‘Take it outside. Your grandma’s watching.’”
Tymothy has many more games to try to catch his older brother’s record. Like Ike, James wants to play college football and will surely have opportunities to do so.
But there is another way he is chasing his brother’s shadow.
Ike is currently a construction manager helping build the Titans’ new stadium in Tennessee. And the James gang hopes to work together one day.
“I want to study construction management, too,” Tymothy said. “We all want to work together to put the Bears stadium up in Hammond.”

By Steve Hanlon
Heartland Sports Network

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