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Antioch gets past Round Lake

The final score on this cold, wet and windy night in Antioch was not indicative of how the Sequoits played in the first half of their 34-6 win over visiting Round Lake Friday.

Maybe it was starting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis being out with a broken collar bone, or maybe it was the elements that played a part, but Antioch head coach Brian Glashagel had a very different take.

"We practiced poorly all week," he said. "We kept telling them, if you practice lethargic all week, this is what happens on Friday."

What happened was a first half that saw the Northern Lake County Conference-leading Sequoits only able to put up a lone score over the Panthers, who came in on a four-game losing streak.

That score was a 63-yard touchdown connection from quarterback A.J. Kutcher to Kaliakmanis' brother Dino with 7:25 to go in the second quarter.

And while the defense was shutting down the Round Lake offense for the most part, a few miscues lead to sporadic big plays that threatened the Antioch streak of four straight shutouts.

"The conversation at halftime was very short," Glashagel said. "We didn't make any adjustments, we just told them to be mentally prepared to play."

That certainly seemed to have an effect as junior Khalil Anderson received the opening kick of the second half and flashed through the Panther special teams for a 73-yard return and a 13-0 Antioch (6-1, 5-0) lead with just 13 seconds gone by.

A little over six minutes later, quarterback Evan Day took a keeper in from 24 yards out and Aidan Weir's extra point kick made it 20-0.

Dino Kaliakmanis then capped off a drive that bridged into the fourth quarter with an end around that went for a 32-yard touchdown with 11:51 left for a 27-0 advantage.

Not quite four minutes later, Gavin Calabrese broke free on a 33-yard scamper for a score to make it 34-0 with 7:52 left in the game.

A trade of three-and-out series gave the Panthers (1-6, 0-5) possession in the waning moments, and after a Cristian Castro pass to Isaiah Nixon went for 16 yards, a late hit moved the ball to the Sequoits' 34. That duo connected again on a 24-yard completion to get it to the 10. But Antioch's defense stiffened, forcing three straight incompletions to set up a fourth-and-goal from the 10. Castro, however, was able to get the ball to Dominick Tovar for Round Lake's lone score to end the Sequoits scoreless streak.

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