Schmit: After crushing loss, Antioch’s football program will navigate the high road
When you’re at a low point, taking the high road isn’t easy.
Emotions understandably ran high last weekend after Antioch’s football team suffered a devastating 32-28 loss to Sycamore in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. The four-point margin alone is enough to understand why.
But the way the game ended, I’m not sure how you bounce back. Dredging up the scene is necessary, so here it goes.
On what appeared to be the final play of the game, Antioch quarterback Ethan Patel threw a Hail Mary pass to about Sycamore’s 10-yard line. Players from both teams battled for the ball, which ended up bouncing off a Sycamore player’s arm and into the air.
Antioch receiver Chance Verden grabbed the ball before it hit the ground and raced into the end zone as the buzzer sounded. The Sequoits began celebrating but, unfortunately, a nearby official had blown his whistle before Verden began running.
After a discussion among the officials, they decided the inadvertent whistle ended the play. Verden’s touchdown didn’t count, but the Sequoits were given a final, untimed down from the 13-yard line. That pass was intercepted, ending Antioch’s season.
Antioch’s chance at reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 was gone due to a whistle that shouldn’t have sounded.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” veteran Sequoits coach Brian Glashagel said after the game. “I’ve got a couple of guys who have been coaching for 50 years and have never seen anything like that.”
That type of stunned reaction permeated the community over the next 24 hours as players, coaches, parents and fans tried to process what happened. As video of the play circulated nationwide, calls for justice were rampant in an unrealistic hope of handing victory to Antioch.
But, as the Sequoits are learning, sports aren’t always fair. For all the rules and guard rails, there’s nothing to be done in a situation like this. All that remains is a sense of helplessness.
On Monday, Glashagel wrote a public note addressing the outcome. He said the official who blew the whistle reached out to him, acknowledged the mistake and apologized.
Glashagel’s words were nothing short of inspiring. He even wished Sycamore the best down the road, crediting the Spartans as a worthy quarterfinalist.
“The Antioch Football Program understands that we are all human, and human beings make mistakes,” Glashagel wrote. “While the circumstances are certainly difficult to accept, we hold no ill will toward that official or anyone else on the officiating crew.”
Too often, and at every athletic level, we see adults embarrassing themselves with unhinged rants against officials and others. Glashagel’s note should serve as a blueprint in how to handle frustration on the field.
It’s an especially tough setback for the Sequoits given their potential as an unbeaten top seed in Class 5A. They would’ve faced Northern Lake County Conference rival Wauconda, a team Antioch beat 21-0 in Week 8, this weekend with a semifinal berth on the line.
After that you’re more than willing to roll the dice against the winner between St. Francis and Cary-Grove for a chance at the program’s first title game appearance. It’s crushing to think one breath — literally, a whistle — denied an opportunity at history.
That’s why Glashagel’s words are of infinite importance. It’s critical the players realize they are not defined by the loss. What made this group special is the hard work and brotherhood that carried them on this unforgettable journey.
Keep your chins up, Sequoits. The high road gets much brighter up ahead.
kschmit@dailyherald.com