Maturity means optimism for Antioch
Sometimes, Brian Glashagel’s players finish his sentences for him.
And he doesn’t mind that at all.
Last season at this time, Glashagel got more of a deer-in-headlights look instead.
“We were so young last season and we had so many new guys,” the Antioch head coach said. “We were so far behind where we are now at this point in the season. Now, I say something and the guys are all like, ‘Yeah, coach, we know.’
“I’m walking off the field feeling better right now (in August) than I did all of last season.”
The 2012 season was a tough one at Antioch. The young and inexperienced Sequoits took their lumps and finished 3-6. It was their first losing season in five years and their first playoff miss since 2009.
“Last season forced all of us, the coaches and the players, to look at what we do, from how we structure practice to how hard we work, to everything. That’s been good for our team,” Glashagel said. “It’s also helped that we’ve gone from a very young group to a very veteran group.”
Last season, Antioch featured three returning starters on offense and just one returning starter on defense. Now, there are seven returners on offense and a whopping nine returners on defense.
“We’re just able to move much more quickly through things,” Glashagel said. “I feel really good about where we’re at.”
As much as the offense has stayed the same, there was a major change at the top. Junior Alan Taylor, last year’s starting quarterback, will be moving into a jack-of-all trades role, starting at safety while also playing some running back and wide receiver.
Meanwhile, senior Zach Andre will assume the role of starting quarterback.
Glashagel says both Taylor and Andre could successfully run the show, but that Taylor has the ability to help the Sequoits in other ways as well.
“Alan is just a phenomenal athlete and we were thinking about him in other roles and one day, he came up to me and said that he thought Zach should be quarterback because he’s such a great leader,” Glashagel said. “It was perfect. Alan is a Division I caliber football player and he’ll help us all over the field this year. And Zach is a great leader who is 10 times the quarterback he was last year. He’s going to do a great job for us, too.”
Also returning in the backfield to operate behind veteran linemen Nate Zeien and Mike Dorosan are running backs Cam Corey and Andrew Pelote, who is currently nursing an injury. Both rushed for about 700 yards apiece last season. Newcomer Griffin Hill, just a sophomore, will likely see some carries as well.
“Griffin is a man. He’s fast,” Glashagel said. “He’s got the second all-time fastest 40 time for our team (4.5) next to (Antioch great) Cameron White and he can standing broad jump more than 10 feet.
“He was on our freshman team that went 9-0 last season and he put up freak numbers, like 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns. He’s going to be really good.”
Wide receiver Destiny Dixon, a do-it-all player for last year’s sophomore team, is another newcomer who should make an impact.
Defensively, the Sequoits will be anchored by a trio of returning linebackers, Robert Ritacca, Jackson Boeh and three-year starter Zach Keller.
“We’ve got most of our defensive line back, too. We’re extremely senior-heavy on defense, I really like where we’re at,” Glashagel said. “We’ve got a lot of experienced seniors everywhere, so we’re feeling really good.”