Antioch's even-handed effort sinks Waukegan 41-20
Two, four, six, eight - who does the Antioch football team appreciate?
Well, on Saturday, the Sequoits were extremely thankful for a deep, balanced backfield that brought its A-game to Waukegan's Weiss Field.
Josh Guadarrama, Steve Lorenzini, Vinnie Holm and Sam Green, who wear jersey numbers 2, 4, 6 and 8, respectively, spearheaded a punishing Antioch ground game that rolled up 398 yards en route to a dominating 41-20 nonconference victory over Waukegan.
"The balance is really good and the defense really doesn't know where to (focus)," Green said. "We have five backs (including quarterback Tom Sears) who can gain yards on every play and our offensive line is just pushing everybody around."
"We have talent all around the field, not just in one spot," Lorenzini added.
The win boosts the Sequoits to 2-0 on the season and sets the table for an electric matchup with 2-0 Warren next week. Antioch and Warren were the division champions in the North Suburban Conference last season, Antioch in the Prairie and Warren in the Lake.
"It sets up for a great story," Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said of his team's impending tilt with Warren. "It will be a circus next week."
The scene at Waukegan must have been the calm before the storm.
The Sequoits methodically wore down Waukegan without much pomp or circumstance. It was just good old-fashioned smashmouth football that chewed up yardage and clock.
Antioch got 80 yards from Green, 61 yards and 2 touchdowns from Sears, and 41 first-half yards out of Guadarrama, who sat out the entire second half as a precaution after banging up his wrist just before halftime.
Holm chipped in with 26 yards and a touchdown run.
Their presence prevented the Waukegan defense from focusing too heavily on standout fullback Steve Lorenzini, who piled on another 188 rushing yards himself despite playing with a cast on his left arm that was wrapped with a thick, cumbersome protective covering.
During Antioch's preseason intersquad scrimmage two weeks ago, Lorenzini broke his hand just below the index finger. He actually played in last week's season opener without the cast because he had yet to realize his hand was broken.
It wasn't until Monday that the cast went on.
"I didn't even really notice it while I was playing," Lorenzini said of the cast, which will be on for four weeks. "I just tried to run the ball hard and follow my blocks and I got the yards."
Lorenzini carried the ball 29 times and made it into the endzone twice. Sears also scored twice, on back-to-back touchdowns in the first quarter that set the tone.
On the opening drive of the game, 10 plays in, Sears scored a 6-yard touchdown with 8:10 left in the quarter. After the Sequoits immediately forced and recovered a Waukegan fumble, they scored again on a 3-yard run by Sears with 3:25 left.
"That was the goal before the game is to jump on them right away so they didn't think they had a chance," Green said. "I think it made a big difference and it got our confidence up right away."
Waukegan managed to get on the board in the second quarter when quarterback Akeem Springs capped an 11-play drive with an 8-yard run.
But Antioch took a commanding 28-6 lead into halftime that was padded with a beautiful 26-yard touchdown pass from Sears to Brett Prather with just 17.9 seconds left before the break.
"We like to be quick (to score)," Glashagel said. "We're a fast-break type of offense. And we knew that with the numbers they had and it being a pretty warm day that would be tiring for them."
Waukegan scored twice in the second half, including an impressive 41-yard touchdown run by David Davis (4 carries, 108 yards). But since Antioch always came right back to match the Bulldogs on the scoreboard, it was tough for them to make up ground.
"Antioch is just very disciplined. Playing a team like that was a great learning lesson for us," Waukegan coach Derek Dewitt said. "We have a long way to go, but we're going the right way. We just have to get smarter on the field."