Antioch tunes up against N. Chicago

While watching Friday's night football game at Antioch High School, you couldn't help but notice the row of car dealerships and service centers along Route 173.

Antioch's offensive attack desperately needed a tune-up at the start of the game as they committed three straight false start penalties deep in North Chicago territory on their opening drive and had to settle for a field goal.

For the remainder of their contest with the visiting Warhawks, the Sequoit engine was in high gear and racked up 44 first half points in a 52-32 victory that gave Antioch a share of the North Suburban Prairie Division title.

"I'm not sure what was with the false starts early on," said Antioch running back Danny Arden. "We talked to each other and fixed the problem and then kept going nonstop."

Arden, who led all rushers with 155 rushing yards, scored Antioch's first 2 offensive touchdowns with runs of 30 and 46 yards, respectively.

After North Chicago (1-8, 1-5 in Prairie) cut the lead to 16-12 in the second quarter, it was fellow Sequoits running back Austin Klotter's turn for 2 touchdowns of his own to give Antioch extra breathing room. Klotter rushed for 88 yards.

"Our offensive line got it together (after the opening drive) and opened up huge holes," said Klotter. "I just tried to hit them as hard as I could."

Then the Sequoits defense forced a fumble and an interception on the next two North Chicago drives. Antioch quarterback Josh Anttila cashed in both of the turnovers with touchdown passes to receiver Anthony Formella and Klotter to give the Sequoits (8-1 overall, 5-1 in Prairie) a 44-12 halftime lead.

Klotter than capped the Antioch scoring with his fourth touchdown of the night with a 13 yard run.

"We came out here tonight and did what we had to do," said Antioch coach Brian Glashagel. "I'm very proud of our seniors for giving us a bunch of winners and now it is time for a new season."

North Chicago received an outstanding effort from sophomore quarterback Arnold Shead. He was the game's leading passer with 272 yards and accounted for all 5 Warhawk touchdowns (3 rushing, 2 passing).

"He (Shead) was quick," said Arden. "He knew when to roll out of the pocket and he found open receivers. We need to work on that (on defense) and we should fix that problem."