A thrill for Antioch, Hill
With his exhausted defense on the sideline, Antioch football coach Brian Glashagel had an easy decision to make when his offense faced a critical fourth-and-1 from its own 40 late in the game.
He had, after all, Griffin Hill, who had been tiring out Vernon Hills' defense.
Hill did more than pick up the first down. The electrifying junior running back busted off a 60-yard touchdown run with 2:34 left to extend a one-point lead, and visiting Antioch hung on for an exhausting, 42-40 win in a North Suburban Prairie Division thriller Friday night.
Antioch's third win in a row hiked the Sequoits' record to 3-1 and 2-0 in the NSC Prairie. Vernon Hills saw its two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 2-2, 1-1.
“Our defense was gassed, so we had to win it on offense,” Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. “We have a good offense, so I don't think (the fourth-and-1 call) was that gutsy. Everyone on our sideline was on the same page.”
A week after scoring 4 touchdowns against Round Lake, Hill finished with 3 TDs. He also scored from 2 yards out and had a momentum-changing, 81-yard kickoff return for a TD late in the opening half after Vernon Hills had just marched 80 yards on 17 plays to get within 14-12.
Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo, whose team got a huge game from quarterback Connor McNamara for the second straight week, called Hill's return a backbreaker.
“There were a bunch of people coming from the left side,” Hill said. “We all bunched in because they like to onside kick. I just tried to run to our wedge as fast as possible. I got bobbled around in there and I got hit to the outside. I just saw this opening and I started running. (Vernon Hills) was so fast.
“I got in (the end zone) by a hair,” Hill added. “If it would have been five more yards, the guy probably would have knocked my legs out.”
Vernon Hills did not intend to kick the ball to Hill, who scooped up the ball at his own 19, emerged from a host of bodies around the 35 and won a race down the left sideline.
“We talked all week about not kicking it to No. 4 (Hill),” Bellecomo said. “Sometimes you can't execute what you practice.”
A week after rushing for 6 touchdowns against North Chicago, McNamara threw 6 TD passes on a 37-of-49 passing for 354 yards. He did not throw an interception.
“He just keeps getting better with every game,” Bellecomo said. “I feel bad for him. Any time you put up 40 points, you should get a win. We got to figure things out on defense.”
Trailing 35-18 after Hill's second touchdown with 2:52 left in the third, Vernon Hills manufactured a 14-play, 80-yard drive. McNamara's 4-yard TD pass to Kiwanne Durant (11 catches, 120 yards) and McNamara's conversion pass to Robby Nardini (6 catches, 61 yards) made it 35-26 with 10:32 left in the fourth. After Vernon Hills' defense forced a rare three-and-out, the Cougars scored again. McNamara hit Durant, who spun into the end zone from 15 yards out with 5:38 to go. When McNamara scrambled and raced in for the PAT, the home team was within 35-34.
The Vernon Hills defense nearly held again on Antioch's next possession. Just before the Sequoits went for the first down on fourth-and-1 from its 40, Glashagel called timeout.
“We wanted to make sure we had the call right,” Glashagel said. “I think I repeated it 7-8 times.”
“Our offensive line was playing great all game so I knew pretty much from the start that he was going to go for it,” said Hill, who ran behind Jared Bolton, Tim Christian, Jon Haeffele, Ben Hermes, Brandon Wagener and tight end Weston Fox. “I was expecting, like on a goal-line (situation), that there was going to be a bunch of people there. But the hole just opened up and I just sprinted it in.”
Vernon Hills wasn't done. McNamara capped a seven-play drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Andres Salazar with 46 seconds to go. But on the two-point try, which would have tied the game, McNamara overshot David Levering in the end zone.
“At the half, we had a talk and our coaches told us that the game wasn't over,” said Salazar, who had 5 receptions and added 28 rushing yards. “Then after Kiwanne made the first touchdown, we started working together as a team.”
Nick Andre — who scored on a 20-yard reverse in the second quarter — recovered the onside kick for Antioch.
Antioch fullback Alan Taylor finished with 132 rushing yards and 2 TDs (17 and 65 yards) on 18 carries. Hill gained 139 yards on 17 carries.
“You saw who the athletes were on both sides,” Glashagel said. “There were a lot of athletes on the field.”