50 years later, 1970 football team still unmatched
Lowell squad last to go unbeaten, untied
Back in the spring of 1970, Keith Academy, a Catholic high school in Lowell that had roughly 400 male students, closed down for good.
Those students who hadn’t yet graduated were left to choose where they would go to finish out their high school educations. Some went to Bishop Guertin, some went to Central Catholic, some went to St. John’s Prep, some went to Billerica High and some went to Tewksbury High.
Bill Kulis, a football standout while at Keith Academy who was entering his junior year, was part of a group that decided to attend Lowell High School. In fact, a number of his KA football teammates were within that group.
Both Keith and Lowell had gone 6-3 in the 1969 football season, and the fall of 1970 presented a chance for two young, talented groups to join forces on the gridiron.
Those two forces created an unstoppable and historic unit.
The Red Raiders finished the 1970 campaign with a perfect 9- 0 record. They outscored opponents, 227-40, and registered four shutouts under legendary head coach Ray Riddick.
That was the last of Riddick’s eight unbeaten squads and his sixth Eastern Mass. title. It’s also the last LHS football team to finish a season undefeated and untied.
This fall, the squad is celebrating its 50th anniversary, albeit while socially distanced during a pandemic. But the pride is still abundant and the memories are still vivid.
“It was a pretty closeknit group of guys. It was really just — I don’t know if you want to call it a perfect storm — it was just a great mix of guys,” said Kulis, a retired teacher and coach