White, Antioch speed past Grayslake C.

As he walked off his football team's home turf following the opening quarter, Grayslake Central quarterback Kevin O'Rourke shouted to his teammates, "New year, new team!"

For Antioch, its first-half performance Friday night suggested its motto might be, "New year, same team."

The Sequoits didn't have a problem scoring points last season, but had trouble stopping opponents.

That trend continued in the first half on Opening Night, as Grayslake Central rolled up 276 yards of offense. But Antioch's defense regrouped, pitching a second-half shutout, as the Sequoits won 37-21.

"The defense grew up tonight," Antioch assistant coach Del Pechauer said, addressing the team after the game.

Antioch received 3 touchdowns from speedy Cameron White and also unveiled a new weapon in Vinnie Holm. The sophomore caught a 12-yard TD pass from quarterback Matt Romani, busted off a 57-yard scoring run, kicked a 22-yard field goal and booted 4 PATs.

While White carried the ball only eight times, scoring on runs of 32 and 16 yards, fullback Steve Lorenzini was the workhorse. The second-year starter rushed 27 times for 142 yards.

"That's what we want our fullback to do," Sequoits head coach Brian Glashagel said. "He's got to be the hammer."

Grayslake Central, which didn't win a game last season, opened the game with Mike Gentile at quarterback out of the shotgun formation. Gentile directed the Rams on an 81-yard scoring drive, capped by a 45-yard TD run by Doug Pate (14 carries, 117 yards).

Gentile later scored on a 7-yard run and tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass to David Tajnai.

But Holm's 12-yard TD catch had Antioch up 23-21 at halftime.

White returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a TD, before Holm broke off his long touchdown run. White left the game after Holm's TD with leg cramps and did not return.

Antioch's defense shut down the Rams the second half, with Sam Pimpo getting an interception and Nick McKenzie a sack.

"What (Grayslake Central) was doing (offensively in the first half) was they had a nice little power play, almost an unbalanced (formation), where they were feeding the back," Glashagel said. "They were just pounding it."