'Big win': Simple wish for 91-year-old Antioch High fan feted for decades of devotion

Steve Young was asked what he's most looking forward to when he's honored at Friday's Antioch High School football game for decades of devotion to the Sequoits.

“A big win,” he said. “That'd really make me happy.”

You'd expect no other answer from the 91-year-old, a 1950 Antioch graduate who has dedicated a large portion of his life to supporting the school's many athletic programs.

To thank him, Young will be brought onto the football field at halftime of Friday's home game against Morris. He'll be presented with a plaque and joined by coaches and athletes from various sports for a group photo representing the generations of young men and women he's watched from the sidelines and bleachers.

“When they told me about this, it just blew me away,” he said. “I'm just doing it to help the kids.”

Young's devotion began during his freshman year at Antioch when he bought a camera and took pictures at football games that ended up running in the local newspaper. He competed in the pole vault for the track and field team - practicing on his family farm with a bamboo pole - and also became a skilled gymnast. Young even coached gymnastics and archery at Antioch.

His main contribution, though, has been as a superfan. He hasn't missed a varsity football game since 1946, except for the two years he spent repairing tanks after being drafted into the Army in 1954.

“I didn't have much choice, I had to give those two years to Uncle Sam,” he said with a laugh.

Young worked for Johnson Outboard Motors in Waukegan for 41 years, and was a photographer for Lakeland Press for 59 years. Young raised three children, helped found the Lake County Museum, built a collection of 360,000 Native American pieces and earned the Potawatomi name of Knonozo, meaning Blessed by the Eagle.

All the while, he just kept going to Antioch sporting events.

Lori Schuler played multiple sports at Antioch between 1994 and 1998. She remembers Young as the “silent fan” being at many of her softball, volleyball and soccer games.

Now the parent of a daughter, Jacey, who's a standout junior pitcher on the Sequoits softball team, Schuler is reconnecting with Young on another level.

“I was surprised to see him again, but I one hundred percent made the connection that this was the same person who was part of my high school experience,” Schuler said. “I didn't know much about him when I was in high school, but seeing him again the last couple of years made me realize how dedicated he was.”

Then there's the candy, for which he's a legend. Young hands out bull's-eye caramel creams to athletes when they make a good play or after a big win. How much candy? Young estimates he's given out about $70,000 worth through the years.

“It's just natural for me,” he said. “Just something small that I can do for them.”

While he's best known for not missing varsity football games, Young became especially attached to last season's softball team that finished third in the state in the Class 3A tournament.

Young even drove himself to Peoria for the final games, handing out candy every step of the way. In appreciation of Young's support, the team posed for pictures with him holding the trophies and gave him one of the medals awarded to each of the players and coaches.

“That really touched him, but he was so deserving,” Schuler said.

Because Young is widowed and has a daughter in Kentucky, a son in Maine and another son in Texas, community members have taken it upon themselves to take care of him.

While nothing will keep Young from the danger of being hit as he walks the sideline at football games - “I've probably been tackled more times than the kids have,” he joked - his many friends are finding other ways to lend a fraction of the support he's given the Sequoits.

Friday's ceremony, they believe, is the least they can do.

“It's important to me to support what the kids are doing,” he said. “That's why I keep going.”