Listen up: Antioch’s young, but skilled
With his Antioch football players standing on a knee in front of him, head coach Brian Glashagel, as he typically does after games, shouted to each assistant coach and asked for his observations of the Sequoits’ preseason scrimmage last Friday night.
More than a couple of coaches wanted to wait until they viewed the tape before commenting, good or otherwise, on what they saw live.
“The eye in the sky doesn’t lie. That’s what they used to tell us in college,” one assistant said.
Here’s what fans watching from the bleachers typically see from Glashagel’s squads: fundamentally sound football with an emphasis on running a reliable triple-option offense.
Since taking over a program that hit rock-bottom with an 0-9 campaign in 2006, Glashagel has taken the Sequoits to the state playoffs three times, including the last two seasons.
Suffice it to say, the program has reached the point where it expects to make the playoffs every year. So, yes, the Sequoits expect to see lots of good things on film this season, even though they’ll head into it having graduated a talented senior class.
“We’re young, overall,” Glashagel said. “If you look at the 11 or 13 guys that will play on offense and the 16 guys playing defense, most of them are juniors or younger. But we’ll be all right.”
Gone is all-area fullback Dan Arden, who rushed for 1,487 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. A workhorse, Arden carried the ball 33 times for 249 yards against rival Lakes in a Week-6 showdown that the Sequoits won.
Taking Arden’s carries could be senior Austin Klotter, who rushed for 319 yards and 4 TDs last season. Fellow wingback Andrew Pelote starred for the 8-1 sophomore team last year. Junior Cameron Corey and senior Cody Gwinn play fullback. Replacing the graduated Josh Anttila at quarterback is 6-foot-2, 182-pound sophomore Alan Taylor, who was the freshman team’s starting QB last fall.
“He’s a great athlete,” Glashagel said. “He’s built for this offense — fast, big, strong. He’s young. He’s green, so he’s not as veteran with the reads, but he’s picking it up. And his dad is a football (an assistant in Chicago).”
The offensive line returns senior starting tackles Jacob Craft (5-11, 231) and Justin Seyter (6-3, 257), as well as starting guards Mark Lyman (6-4, 250), a senior, and Nate Zeien (6-3, 279), a junior. Senior Hunter Corey (6-3, 281), Cameron’s brother, will start at center.
Zach Andre, a 6-3 junior who was the sophomore’s starting quarterback last year, will play wide receiver, as will senior Kyle Patrick and junior Lucas Holmes.
The defensive veterans include senior defensive end Jack Johnson (6-1, 246), senior cornerback Cameron Slate (5-6, 14), senior linebacker Tim Wennstrom (5-9, 175) and junior linebacker Zach Keller (5-10, 179), who was called up from the sophomore squad early last season and became a starter.
The new juniors include defensive tackles Andy Romani (6-0, 235), whose brother Matt was the quarterback on the Sequoits’ state-semifinal team in 2008, and Kyle Nichols (6-4, 266), who’s one of the biggest Sequoits.
“We’re going to try to win the division again,” said Glashagel, whose team finished in a tie for the North Suburban Prairie Division title last season with Grant and Lakes.
In order for the Sequoits to reach their goals this fall, they’ll need to get leadership similar to what they received last season from their seniors. About a dozen players off last year’s squad are playing in college. Among them are 2011 academic all-staters Arden (Carroll), Zack Freundt (Illinois Wesleyan), Sam Emanuelson (Illinois Wesleyan) and Lee Shannon (Carroll). The team also has to replace versatile and talented George Gonzalez (Wisconsin-Stout), who had 7 interceptions last season, while also providing reliable kicking and punting.
“I don’t know if we’re as smart as that team (last year),” Glashagel said with a laugh. “But, yeah, we got good guys.”
ANTIOCH
HEAD COACH: Brian Glashagel (sixth season, 35-16)
LAST SEASON: 8-2, 5-1 in North Suburban Prairie Division, lost to Grant in first round of Class 6A state playoffs
HOMECOMING: Friday, Oct. 5 vs. Zion-Benton, 7:30 p.m.