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Flag football: Big second half sends Antioch past Round Lake in sectional semifinals

Leading only by a point, 7-6, at halftime, Antioch scored on its first three drives of the second half to put away Round Lake 26-12 in the first McHenry girls flag football sectional semifinal Monday.

The fifth-seeded Sequoits (18-5) will return to McCracken Field Tuesday and face No. 7 Machesney Park Harlem (15-3) for the sectional crown and a berth in this weekend’s state finals at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park.

Harlem beat Cary-Grove (11-5), the third seed, 38-18 in Monday’s second sectional semifinal.

Eighth seed Round Lake, which upset top-seeded Rockton Hononegah, 12-7, to win its own regional last week, finished the season with a 14-10 record.

By keeping Round Lake’s offense in check in the second half, Antioch’s defense set up good field position for the team’s offense. The first three Panthers drives ended in punts in their own territory.

“Our defense needed to step up and have a great game in the second half and shut down their drives and they did,” Antioch coach Tammy Johnson said. “Sasha Johnson batted down a couple of balls and made sure that she plugged up our middle and Reese Queensland made sure that nothing got over her head.”

Antioch quarterback Tanner Ludwig connected with three different receivers for the second half TD strikes. The sophomore threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Queensland with 7:11 left in the third quarter.

Five minutes later, a 3-yard Ludwig toss over the middle found Evie Baronello in the end zone for the sophomore running back’s second TD of the game. The Sequoits ended their first drive of the fourth quarter on a 16-yard Ludwig strike that ended in the hands of Kallie Maloney, who was standing in the left corner of the end zone.

“They executed better down the stretch in terms of what they were trying to get in their game plan,” Round Lake coach Molly Hennig said.

Antioch wasted no time taking the lead, scoring on its opening drive of the game. Baronello caught a Ludwig pass on the Sequoits’ own 40-yard line and raced 60 yards for the touchdown. A successful one-point conversion put Antioch up 7-0 two minutes into the contest.

“I think getting the first touchdown was really critical,” Ludwig said. “I think it set the tone for the rest of the game for us staying positive, staying together and doing well.”

Round Lake scored on its fourth possession of the first half, ending the five-play drive with a 3-yard TD pass from Mya Hagi to Kaleigh Skowronski. The Panthers’ effort to pull in front fell short when the two-point conversion failed.

Round Lake’s offense got back on track late in the fourth quarter, ending a 61-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring pass from Hagi to Emma Franks.