It's football playoff season, and Antioch has found a special way to celebrate

Just as his alarm was about to sound Wednesday morning, Brian Glashagel was awakened by a strange noise outside his bedroom window.

Half awake, Antioch's football coach rolled out of bed, looked outside and stared into the yard in disbelief.

His football team was bellowing the Sequoits' fight song. "Go, Sequoits, go! Fight, Sequoits, fight! Win! Win! Wiiiii-in! Hey!"

A moment later, the school's cheer squad and band erupted on the street to announce that, yes, the most wonderful time of year - playoff season - is once again here.

The video, which was posted on TikTok, had nearly 900,000 views by Friday afternoon.

"To get high school kids to gather that early in the morning to do something they don't obviously have to do is pretty cool," said Glashagel, in his 17th season as Antioch's coach. "It's a testament to the school, the community and the adults that are raising them and coaching them. It was pretty awesome."

Antioch, a No. 3 seed that outscored its opponents 472-134 during a 9-0 campaign, opened the postseason at home with a 63-8 victory Friday over Englewood Stem in 5A.

The early-morning spectacle was the brain child of Sue Day, whose son Nick is the starting fullback and broke the school record for rushing yards and touchdowns on the same play Friday.

Day has been president of the Gridiron Group, which supports all levels of the football program, since her oldest son, Evan, was a senior in 2018.

It's a playoff-week tradition for Day and other moms to use the cover of darkness to decorate Glashagel's house in myriad ways.

"This night is the best night ever," Day said. "We go out for dinner, get a little liquid courage and then go over to Brian's house."

It started innocently enough.

A couple of signs and balloons one year. Then a dozen signs, a blowup helmet and some balloons.

In 2021 it reached another level when Glashagel awoke to 10,000 forks in his yard.

Last year, Day really ramped things up by streaming the trees with toilet paper and turning Glashagel's lawn into a striped football field. One dad even created goal posts.

"So now I'm like, 'How am I going to make it better than all of that?'" Day said.

By striking up the band, apparently.

But that wasn't all. Day also had an epiphany.

"It became a joke that Sue Day is done - that's a wrap. I'm out. No more football," Day said. "So let's Saran wrap everything!"

And, wow, did she mean everything.

A car in the driveway was engulfed. Trees and bushes glistened. Team pictures littered the yard.

There was plastic everywhere.

Then Glashagel arrived at school and guess what? Yep, more Saran wrap. It was around desks, a stapler and the pencil sharpener.

That's a wrap, all right.

This year, Glashagel turned the tables on Day by hanging signs, fat heads and even Christmas decorations in her yard.

"It was a walk down memory lane," Day said. "It was incredible and emotional. ... I've spent seven years honing my craft and for their first time they nailed it."

Antioch has a population of almost 15,000 but remains a small town at heart. The residents love their sports and love to support each other.

The evidence was certainly there for many to see - and hear - this week.

"We have a real cutsie downtown," Glashagel said. "Parents are friends with coaches who live in town, I'm friends with the band (teacher). We came into teaching together. We all know each other.

"I don't know if at a larger place something like this would happen just because there's so many more people.

"It's a pretty cool experience to be involved in football here."