His football team gives him what he needs most

Whatever the scoreboard reads tonight at the end of his 413th game as part of Bandys High football, Randy Lowman says he will be able to embrace it.

It could be his team's second win of the season over Newton-Conover's Red Devils, a valuable victory that would keep alive his goal of playing in a state championship game for the fourth time.

It could also be, given how good the Red Devils have been the last two seasons (26 wins in 28 games), a loss that sends the Trojans' fans into the gym to watch basketball.

Doesn't matter.

"I care," said Lowman of winning tonight's second round state 2AA playoff game at Bandys' Butler Stadium. "But we have won whatever happens.

"This bunch has done more than ever expected. I don't think they are through.

"They're a great football team and they give great effort, and if we're good enough we might win.

"And if we can't muster it up, I will hug their necks and thank them for what they have done."

Led by 26 seniors and a coaching staff that was always like Lowman's second family and is now his first, the Trojans have helped Lowman through the toughest of times.

Without a doubt, there are moments in every day when only Lowman, 55, and his two sons, Trojans assistant coaches Kyle and Trent, know how what happened July 6 has impacted their lives.

That's the day Randy Lowman's wife of 34 years, Linda, died unexpectedly.

Within two weeks, it was time for the annual coaches clinic in Greensboro. A week after that, football season – and a new challenge – arrived for the three Lowmans.

Having always been a straight shooter and candidly honest, two of the traits that endear Randy Lowman to the coaching community at large, helped the veteran coach tell the young men about to play for him – his 23rd Bandys team – that he needed them.

"I explained I was there but I am not whole yet," Randy Lowman said. "I told them 'I'm gonna do what I need to do but I need ya help. Don't be like 15- and 16-year old kids… be mature and make sure we take care of the business we're here to do. I don't have the energy and concentration…'

"And they seemed to buy into that. I felt stupid for not demanding that ever year (before).

"I think the kids had sympathy for us and what we were going through.

"Things have loosened up. It's not a sympathy fest or gloom and doom, but they still know there are other things going on and they are still doing their part."

At 15 or 16, it's probably quite difficult to figure out the best way to show your coach you care.

Win?

Not really, Randy Lowman says.

"They just tried their best not to aggravate me because they knew that we (his family) were going through a lot of other stuff," Lowman said. "I don't know if they know it, but they got better.

"We didn't have to deal with discipline or with running wind sprints (as discipline).

"This is the easiest year of coaching that I have ever had. The kids went over the top to make it easier for me. And by doing that, it made them better and I don't know if the two are tied together."

Focused on making it a smooth year, the Trojans worked hard to get things done the right way.

Every day.

Practice starts promptly at 3:30 and is slated for 90 minutes. When it's time for a specific drill, everyone who is supposed to be in it is in line waiting for coaching instructions.

"It's very (special)," Randy Lowman said. "It was from outside circumstances, and at the time it was not just to win football games because they were hurting for me and my boys, just like everybody in the community was.

"They didn't want me to quit. And it snowballed. We didn't waste practice time, we used the time to practice football.

"We haven't practiced past 5 p.m. in eight weeks. We do what we're supposed to do and send them home,""

The more efficiently the Trojans worked, the more they won and the stronger their bond – an extension of their common love for their coach – has become.

"It means everything," Randy Lowman said. "We have talked about it. I could not coach another day and finish up happy.

"They have sold out to make this a good year for me and my two boys and our program, and I can't ask anything else."

A lot has always been asked of Lowman, a former running back at Bandys who also spent nine years as an assistant coach there before becoming the head man.

He's 55 now, and the 20 or so years he was not directly associated with Bandys football were spent getting an education or, like all of us, being a little kid.

Tonight is the 611th football game played by his high school, and he played in 35, was an assistant coach in 92 and has guided Bandys to new heights in football in the other 285 (184-100-1 record).

Since making their first of three state title game appearances in 1996, the Trojans are 142-47.

Tonight, they'll win their 143rd or lose their 48th. Either way, the journey in life that Randy Lowman and Kyle and Trent are on continues.

But they're not alone, instead accompanied by a group of about 40 or so teenagers who have come to realize that life provides many hard knocks besides a linebacker barreling down on a smaller guy running with a football.

"It has been hard," Randy Lowman said. "It is hard when you go out on Friday night and those seats up there are empty. When the game is over, other than Kyle, Trent and my coaches, there is nobody to talk to it about.

"Always the first thing, (Linda) was who you reported to or called. Or you run to the field house and grab the phone and say 'I am going to be home late.'

"It's getting better. These guys have made it (coaching) enjoyable. They have carried me through it."

Record Sports Editor Chris Hobbs' nearly 40 years around area high school football includes seeing Randy Lowman's high school career in the Bandys backfield. Reach Hobbs at chobbs@hickoryrecord.com.