Rivalry classic favors Lakes
As if the game itself wouldn't have been memorable enough, Lakes senior Jake Balliu added a striking personal touch Friday night in Antioch.
Now, it will be next to impossible for him to keep his final crosstown football rivalry game off his list of all-time favorites.
As Antioch was scrambling to get a score in the final moments, Balliu intercepted a pass at the 1-yard line and ran 99 yards in the other direction for a touchdown. It was the sparkly red bow that wrapped up a 45-18 Lakes victory over District 117 peer Antioch.
Not only did the Eagles get the rivalry win, they also laid claim to the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division title with a perfect 5-0 record. Lakes, which broke open a slim 7-6 halftime lead by scoring 38 second-half points, is now 7-1 overall.
Antioch, which lost star running back Griffin Hill to an injury late in the third quarter when Lakes was clinging to a 14-12 lead, drops to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Prairie.
"The Lakes-Antioch rivalry is always big. I love it. It's one of those things you're going to remember for the rest of your life," Balliu said of the grudge match between the two programs that have won five of the last seven Prairie Division titles. "We knew they were going to punch, and we were going to punch back. We just came out in the second half with something to prove.
"The (interception return) was awesome, a great feeling. It's a rare occasion when you get something like that. It's kind of lucky. It's only my second (interception return for a touchdown) ever."
Balliu scored another big touchdown earlier in the game, catching a 64-yard pass from quarterback Jordan Mercure (12-of-18 for 179 passing yards) that gave the Eagles some breathing room late in the third quarter. Lakes went up 21-12 with 2:24 left.
That touchdown came just 12 seconds after Antioch scored on a 1-yard run by quarterback Dan Meade (7-of-23 for 148 passing yards) to cut its deficit to 14-12. On the play right before that, Antioch running back Griffin Hill got stopped at the goal line, and as he was piled on, his left knee twisted up underneath him.
Hill left the game and did not return. He had 142 rushing yards (on 20 carries) and a touchdown at the time.
"Nothing's torn. I just need to ice it and rest it," Hill said. "It kind of sucks to have anyone go down, but people still stepped up. It was just hard to go down like that and we just had some mistakes at the end.
"I think we'll be fine down the road. We have a saying, 'Short-term memory.' As long as we don't linger on this, I think we'll be OK."
Meanwhile, Lakes running back Cameron Ruiz might actually want to replay this game in his head for a while. The sophomore reserve was given the starting spot to fill in for multiple players at that position who have gone down with injuries.
All Ruiz did was roll up 113 yards on 18 carries. He also scored 3 touchdowns.
"Cam is like our eighth-string running back. No joke," Lakes coach Luke Mertens said with a smile. "I mean, in eight games, we've started five different running backs. It's amazing. It's a credit to our O-line that we keep putting guys in there and we get some great performances.
"This is the most banged up I think we've ever been in Lakes history. It's crazy. Crazy."
Lakes is without star running back Devyn Cedzidlo (broken fibula in late September), and some of its other top backs, such as Izayah James (hip), Balliu (shoulder) and Lucas Kuzmanovich haven't been at 100 percent.
Now, Antioch can commiserate. It was unclear how much time, if any, Hill might miss.
"When you lose your big horse like that, that was tough. It changes a little bit of what we can do," Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. "But the thing that I like is that we got a taste of a playoff game before the playoffs. We need to take advantage of this (learning experience). We've got to learn from this."