Football is in the Fowler family’s blood.

Justin, Ryan and Matt Fowler’s father Paul, now an assistant principal at Haskett Junior High, played high level college football at Jackson State. The trio have grown up around the game and have pushed each other their whole lives to get better and always succeeded together as a family.

The three brothers, Justin is a year older and Ryan and Matt are twins, have grown into a fearsome trio on the field and three huge playmakers for Seven Lakes heading into this season. The three had some of the biggest performances of their varsity careers on Thursday, with Justin, Matt and Ryan all making key plays that led the Spartans (2-0) to a 14-10 win over Richmond Foster (0-2) on Thursday to stay unbeaten on the season.

“We’ve been playing sports together our whole lives,” Matt said. “We’re always around each other, always finding ways to make each other better and that’s why you see stuff like tonight. It’s easy when we are together on the field, because we match each other’s energy and all three of us are going to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”

The three biggest plays of the game came from the hands of the three Fowlers. Justin gave Seven Lakes the lead and its first score of the game when he caught a 20-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, Matt caught the game winning score late in the fourth when Seven Lakes was trailing, bringing in an 11-yard touchdown pass. Justin then sealed the game, intercepting a Foster pass with under a minute to go when the Falcons were trying to drive down the field.

“It’s great, you all want to make plays going into the game and for us three to all come up big like we did was just a really cool thing,” Justin said. “We’ve all been so close our whole lives and always pushed each other. You could see that tonight. One of us makes a play and it just makes the rest of us want to make a play even more. You don’t want to be outdone by a sibling so we all just go out there and fight and make plays everywhere we can.”

Seven Lakes defense was huge all day. They made three straight stops to start the game and on the third possession, Foster fumbled a snap in its own end. Amani Hooks came crashing in to beat two players to the ball, recovering the fumble that set the Spartans offense up inside Foster territory.

That was exactly the spark that Seven Lakes' offense needed as well, they drove down to the redzone and then Shaan Patel made a beautiful throw off a broken play, escaping the pocket before finding Ryan on the run in the back of the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown. Seven Lakes had another chance at a score late in the half, driving into the redzone a second time, but a drop and a missed field goal kept things 7-0 heading into the locker room at half.

“We have a lot of experience coming back on defense and it’s made a difference,” said Seven Lakes head coach Jimmy Hamon. “They understand the gameplans we put in and they understand how to make adjustments when we need to, whether that be at half or on the fly during the game. They really learn what we teach and that’s a blessing.”

The Spartans offense struggled to take advantage of any short fields in the second half and had to punt it away every possession in the third quarter. Foster put drives together late in the third where the Falcons tied the game and then another midway through the fourth when they took the lead on a field goal.

But for the second straight week, going down late in the game sparked the Seven Lakes offense. The Spartans drove down the field, chewed time off the clock and on a third and goal from the 11, Patel rolled out and found Matt on a corner route in the back of the endzone to take the lead with under three minutes left. Foster tried to drive down the field and answer back, but Justin sealed the game when he intercepted a pass with under a minute remaining.

“In practice we always talk about how to close out games and we repeat it, how to do a two-minute drill, how to close out a game defensively, so we aren’t ever pressed in game,” Ryan said. “We know what to do in these situations and I think just that experience has really helped us these first two weeks when we have needed to make plays down the stretch to win games.”

Ryan ended the game with three receptions for 50 yards while Matt had two receptions for 17 yards. Kaiser Floyd led the Spartans in receiving yards with three catches for 55 yards while Patel ended the night with 167 yards through the air and Apollo Lema had 62 yards rushing.

The Spartans start the gauntlet of District 19-6A next with Cinco Ranch up first. Seven Lakes knows there are things to clean up and get better with going forward if they are to accomplish their goals, but they are also going to celebrate this, the programs first 2-0 start since 2014, and having a trio of Fowler’s who can light a spark for the team and make a big play at any time.

“I have three sons also, an older son and twins,” Hamon said. “I told Justin, Ryan and Matt the other day, I hope my three boys are like you three when they are your age. Those three are just the epitome of what you want brothers to be like and what you want teammates to be like. When you have that in a locker room it just rubs off on everyone that they are around. I couldn’t be prouder of those guys and I’m so happy to have the privilege of coaching them.”

Seven Lakes 14, Foster 10

Second quarter

SL: Shaan Patel 20 pass to Ryan Fowler (Alex Farinez kick) 10:19

Third quarter

F: Addison Ojaku 5 run (Nick Lopez kick) 0:58

Fourth quarter

F: Lope 23 field goal, 7:45

SL: Patel 11 pass to Matt Fowler (Farinez kick) 2:56

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Seven Lakes: Apollo Lema, 19-62; Braylon Hayes, 5-26; Shaan Patel, 2-(-4); Team: 1-(-19); Foster: Oscar Bargas, 20-134; Addison Ojaku, 10-43; Garrett Barham, 2-5; AJ Akinbile, 1-2; Kaleb Lawson, 2-(-5);

Passing – Seven Lakes: Shaan Patel, 16-24-167-2-0; Foster: Kaleb Lawson, 1-7-8-0-0; Garrett Barham, 1-5-10-0-1;

Receiving – Seven Lakes: Kaiser Floyd, 3-55; Ryan Fowler, 3-50-1; Matt Fowler, 2-17-1; Peter Noonan, 2-14; Apollo Lema, 1-13; Carter Hatten, 3-12; Braylon Hayes, 1-6; Foster: Riley Blanton, 2-18;