Lowell junior linebacker John Judd appreciates every opportunity these days.
No matter how significant or insignificant it may seem.
“I know I’m living my best life right now,” Judd said. “I get to wake up, come out here, play football, eat good food, get good sleep, go to school. It’s great.”
Judd lives with junior tight end Troy Schmelter’s family.
“My mom has always struggled with addiction, and she lives in Kentucky with her mother,” Judd said. “For the past year, she’s been clean. I’ve seen her. I’ve talked to her. I love my mom, and I know she loves me.
“She’s always tried her best to help me, and my friend I live with, she’s known their family since I was a little, little kid. She knows them. She trusts them. It all works out.”
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Judd considers the Red Devils players and coaches part of his extended family, and there’s nothing he would like better than to spend as much time with them as possible.
Lowell (5-2, 4-0), which plays Munster on Friday night, could be in position to play Andrean in a winner-take-all showdown for the Northwest Crossroads Conference title in the regular-season finale for the second straight year. The Red Devils, who lost that matchup last season, also will be among the contenders for their first sectional title since 2021.
“I can’t wait until the playoffs,” Judd said. “I feel like this group can really go far this year. I love playing with them. It’s like another family to me. So being able to play with them all the way until Thanksgiving weekend, that would be the dream.”
Judd has been central to the Red Devils’ efforts to turn such a dream into reality. He has 62 tackles, which ranks second on the team behind junior linebacker Jeron Cannon’s 64, and has team highs of three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
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Judd and Cannon have played together since their Pop Warner days. They attended several camps together over the summer, and Judd said “we really tried to dial it in for the season because it means a lot to us.”
Judd seems to mean a lot to Cannon, and vice versa.
“Johnny, he’s a dawg, man,” Cannon said. “I love him right beside me. I trust him with everything. He does his job. He’s also another leader on our team. He even helps push me and gets me better every day. He just plays hard, physical football. I’ve been playing with him for a long time, and that’s just him.”
Still, last season was something of an adjustment for Judd. After playing primarily on the freshman team, he earned a starting varsity spot as a sophomore in Casey McKim’s first season as Lowell’s coach. Judd racked up 79 tackles with five for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery, even though it was a learning experience for him.
“I’ll be honest, it was a little challenging,” he said. “Not only was I going from the freshman team to varsity, it was also a new coach, a new program that, instead of growing up with the stuff I’d known, I had to reset everything.
“I feel like, being at such a young age when I was starting last year, the pressure was really on me. I feel like I wasn’t able to afford to make a mistake, even though, obviously, you’re going to. I felt the pressure. I felt the challenge. But I also loved it. It was very fun playing with everyone.”
The fun has continued for Judd this season.
“I’m way more comfortable this year,” he said. “I knew what my job was over the whole offseason. I knew what I had to get better from last season. I feel like I’m able to read the field better than I was last year.
“I’m not as anxious. I’m more relaxed, comfortable. I know what I’m doing, and then I feel like since I’m more comfortable in relaxing, I’m able to execute my job better than last year.”
Judd, who is also a sprinter on the track team, said he gained about 15 pounds since last football season. He’s still not the most imposing player, but he can play.
“He’s going to get off the bus, and you’re not going to be like, ‘Oh, man, we have to watch out for that kid,’” McKim said. “But he will run through a brick wall. He gets off of blocks, he avoids blocks extremely well, and then he’s really physical and punishes the ball carrier at the point of attack. He does an outstanding job of just not getting blocked — he’s a hard-to-block kind of guy. There are certain times in a game where you want to kind of force a matchup on a certain blocker, and he’s the guy that you want at that spot to be that physical guy.
“Both Judd and Jeron were extremely productive as sophomores, and both of them had unbelievable offseasons. They put in the work in the weight room. Those guys have been absolute monsters in the middle of our defense, and they’re both only juniors. It’s great to see that.”
Judd has continued to look forward after hurting his right shoulder during a Week 3 game against Griffith.
“I felt it pop in and out, and I’ve just been wrapping it every day,” he said. “It’s better now. But every once in a while, I’ll take a weird hit, and it won’t pop out, but it’s just a sharp pain going through, throbbing. So it’s just some extra protection to keep it right.”
While handling the physical aspects, Judd also has been taking care of the mental component. A relatively recent endeavor is part of that process.
“I’ve been playing guitar for a little over a year now,” he said. “I have two guitars and an amp. It’s just fun to play. It’s something to do when, especially around football season, you’re so worked up. It’s a good way to soothe the body, instead of being so tensed up and tight.
“I’ve always loved music, and I’ve always noticed in some songs, I’m playing like air guitar. I’ve always had a little guitar since I was 8. I just never played it. So one day I was just like, ‘You know, I want to learn.’ So I started teaching myself on YouTube, just watching videos, and it just kicked off from there.”
Judd hopes he and the Red Devils have many more kickoffs this season.
“I’m just excited to play football,” he said. “This group, it’s really fun. I feel like within these last few weeks, we’ve really come together as a group. It’s just like one unit, and it’s really exciting to see what we can do on the field on Friday nights with us playing as a team, rather than just us playing for ourselves.
“There’s always stuff to clean up, but we’re just getting better week by week. I feel like everyone on the team would agree with me, the goal is to win state. I believe we can go very far in the playoffs with this group. We’re a young team, but we have a bunch of talent, and we’re working hard to get where we want to go.”