Antioch pulls away fast against Kenosha Tremper
After Antioch's football season opener Friday night, these good vibrations folks are talking about definitely hold plenty of merit.
That's because the Sequoits spotted host Kenosha Tremper a 13-7 halftime lead before exploding for 45 second-half points to eventually come away with a rather easy 52-20 nonconference victory.
“We just stopped doing stupid things, like fumbling and muffing punts,” chuckled Antioch senior running back Griffin Hill, who was guilty of the latter in the second quarter that helped lead to Tremper's second score.
No worries, though, as Griffin was quickly forgiven after he rushed for 154 yards on 20 carries and definitely has the school's all-time rushing record within sight.
“It was a little shaky in the first half but in the end, this is definitely a game we can build on.”
Griffin's 20-yard scamper with 9 seconds left in the opening act drew first blood for Antioch, which battles Moline next Friday at 7:30 p.m. in its home opener.
Tremper got its fans excited by answering Hill's touchdown with two second-quarter scores that produced the lead at intermission.
Then came the explosion, as Antioch (1-0, 0-0) took the lead as well as took over the game with 17 unanswered third quarter points. A Ben Gutke 35-yard field goal was followed by a wild sequence when a Tremper punt attempt was initially blocked into mid-air by Ian Flatley and ended up in the hands of Stephen Frandsen, who promptly raced 20 yards into the end zone. Moments later, Hill darted around the left end 42 yards to the house and all of a sudden Antioch was ahead 27-13 with the Sequoit faithful delirious.
“The chemistry on this team is off the roof,” added Hill. “We made mistakes but we kept our heads up and corrected them and executed.”
The fourth quarter produced even more fireworks as Antioch punched in four more touchdowns, beginning with Hill's third score of the contest, this time from 12 yards away. Frandsen returned a fumble 46 yards and Mardochee Kamanga had a 25-yard interception return. The final score came when Robert Porter rumbled in from 14 yards out with 2 minutes left in the game.
The Sequoits defense stymied the Trojans with four sacks, in which Marino Martinelli played a major role in three of them. John Howe also picked off a third-quarter pass, and Tyler Wilkins recovered a fourth quarter fumble that helped lead to Porter's score.
Back on offense, the Sequoits have a pretty darn good complement to Hill in fellow running back Nick Dorosan, who had a nice game himself with 115 yards on 15 carries.
“It was nice to beat them after losing each of the last two years,” said head coach Brian Glashagel. “We just stayed on fire in that second half and didn't get down on ourselves. It was a feeding frenzy out there.”
Antioch only out-gained Tremper offensively 339-143 but it's all good, especially when your defense and special teams can help produce three scores.