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By Ryan Wright, Starmont senior

STRAWBERRY POINT — Imagine finishing your junior year with through-the-roof aspirations for a triumphant senior football season.

Anticipation is high for the start of the summer workouts, even knowing it will be a long and grueling 16 weeks to get your body into peak physical shape. You and your teammates spend hundreds of hours in a steamy, hot weight room bulking up. As the end of the summer approaches you and the rest of the team are pushing to get as much out of the last few weeks as you can.

Now its time to start the worst two weeks of football — two-a-days. The weather always seems to be hot, with little sight of relief. But you and your teammates know what needs to be done. From the start of the first practice to the end of the last, it’s all about dedication, heart and a lot of guts. And a lot of water.

This is a lot like how Starmont High School senior David Lowry viewed his last season of football.

But one day he started to feel some discomfort. He decided to go to the doctor, just to be safe. Bad news.Lowry had a hernia and it would need surgery to fix. He and his parents hurried to make a surgery date as soon as they could. He was able to get in the following week.

By this time two-a-days had started,his senior season starting to wind down withconcern that he could not be able to participate.

Every day before the surgery, he helped his backup get up to speed on the offense, coaching and encouraging him that everything would be fine.

Finally it was time for the surgery in Waterloo. While Lowry was in surgery, the doctor told his parents the hernia was much larger than expected and that it would take more time to remove it.

Lowry came out of surgery late in the night and, aside from the effects of anesthesia, everything seemed to be OK.

The next morning was the last day of two-a-days and everyone was practicing hard hoping Lowry was OK.

Then the team saw someone walking down to the field. It was Lowryand everyone was stunned he was out and walking. Our coach, the funny guy he is, had us all turn to him and bow to him.

We knew then our starting quarterback was going to be OK.

Recovery was slow with a lot of sitting and relaxing. Lowry was restless and wanted to be out on the field practicing with the team. He could not even go for a light jog, do sit-ups and even had trouble standing up and sitting down. All the hours spent conditioning and lifting weights in the summer were gone.

As the first game approached, Lowry was unable to play. We played our bitter rival and he wanted one last chance to beat them. But it was only two weeks after surgery and he was forced to sit on the sideline and cheer for his teammates.

After every series, he talked to his backup and coached him, telling him stay positive. Unfortunately we lost, 28-8.

The following Monday, Lowryputs on shoulder pads and a helmet. He is feeling good about himself and by Thursday he can have full contact — just about three weeks aftersurgery.

In Week 2, Lowry reclaimed his starting role and anything less than a win would be a letdown in his mind. With the score tied 14-14 with 14 seconds left it was second and the ball on the 14, Lowry ran a play action pass and hit an open Elliot Moses in the back corner of the end zone. Touchdown Starmont and a 20-14 lead with eight seconds left.

Lowry season is going great. He has completed 21 of 34 passesfor 283 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. He has a completion percentage of 61.8 percent and a quarterback rating of 180.2.