Antioch's 'D' sets tone vs. Streamwood

Coming into Friday's opening night match up between Antioch and visiting Streamwood, everyone was aware of the Sequoits' ability to put points on the board. It was their defense, however, that set the tone in a 47-14 win over the Sabres.

Antioch's defense shut out Streamwood for the first three quarters and didn't give up a single first down in the second quarter.

Dan Arden aided the Sequoits' defense by blocking a punt and giving Antioch the ball deep in its opponent's territory.

"It's huge," Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. "It gives us a short field and helps make our offense more potent."

Antioch's offense took advantage of that short field early and often, putting up 34 first half points.

Running back Vinny Holm scored the first 3 Sequoit touchdowns including one from 17 yards out which capped off a fumble recovery from their defense.

"It felt really good out there," Holm said,. "We wanted to show teams that they can't underestimate us and I think we made that statement."

Holm ended the game with 81 yards rushing while his backfield teammate Sam Green carried the brunt of the load with 14 rushes for 150 yards and one 40-yard touchdown.

It wasn't only the running game for Antioch that was on point as quarterback Tom Sears went 6-8 for 96 yards and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Hartman.

"It felt good throwing the ball today," Sears said. "We have a bunch of good wide receivers which helps out a lot."

After being blanked for the first three quarters the Sabres finally broke the goal line early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Alex Morrow.

After being held to 11 yards rushing in the first half Morrow found some holes late in the game and finished with 55 yards.

Streamwood wasted no time scoring its second touchdown in the fourth quarter as quarterback Dalton Lundeen found wide out Nick Pryor on a slant pattern that went for an 80-yard touchdown on a one-play drive.

Despite the big play the Sabres only moved the ball for 184 yards total compared to Antioch's 475-yard outburst.

"We do not want people to score on us," Glashagel said. "We have guys that are physically gifted and have that spark and fire where they don't want people to score even if we're up big in a game."

One of those defensive players showing the spark was junior defensive end Gregg Van Dycke, who pressured the Sabres quarterback all night and recorded 2 sacks.