Mixed emotions for Antioch after playoff exit
Maybe Antioch senior Brandon Lind should be a philosophy major in college.
He had a simple, but on-point outlook Saturday afternoon about what had just happened on the Sequoits' home field.
"All good things have to come to an end," said Lind, a starting running back. "And all bad things have to come to an end."
The bad thing for the Sequoits was the way they were feeling after a crushing 36-3 Class 6A second-round playoff loss to visiting DeKalb. As hard as it was to imagine in a solemn team room afterwards, Lind and his teammates knew that the hurt won't last forever.
The good thing that ended for the Sequoits was their magical undefeated season. Antioch posted its second undefeated regular season since 2008 this fall, and this second-round loss ends the Sequoits' ride at 10-1. DeKalb, which improves to 9-2, will advance to the quarterfinals next week and face Cary-Grove, a 56-7 second-round winner over Grayslake North.
"What hurts the most is knowing that you'll be leaving all your teammates and coaches," Lind said. "It was just a really good atmosphere and I loved being around all of them."
The DeKalb defense was all around Lind and the rest of his backfield mates.
Antioch's usually potent running game helped the offense put together some long drives and dominate the time of possession. But the Sequoits could never break away from DeKalb for big gains or scores. The Sequoits made it into the red zone only once, on their first possession of the game, and that ultimately yielded a 21-yard field goal by Ben Gutke for their only score of the game.
Meanwhile, DeKalb's up-tempo, no-huddle offense wasn't fazed by being kept off the field by Antioch's methodical, slow-moving offense. When the Barbs did get in, they made the most of their opportunities. They scored on five of their six possessions for the game.
"We always want to be on the field, obviously, and it's hard sitting on the sideline," said DeKalb quarterback Derek Kyler, a three-year starter. "A lot of teams try to do this to us, grind it out and keep our offense out of the game.
"But we put a lot of trust into our defense and let them play. And when we get on the field, we have so many threats it's tough to take away all of them. It's basically pick your poison."
Running back Zuerek Day and wide receiver Cole Tucker were a lethal cocktail for DeKalb. They each scored 2 touchdowns. Day connected with Kyler for a 58-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter that gave the Barbs a 15-3 halftime lead, and he ran in a touchdown from 6 yards out midway through the third quarter.
Tucker scored DeKalb's final two touchdowns, on 6- and 14-yard touchdown passes from Kyler.
"This year, the thing that keeps us in games is our passing game," DeKalb coach Matt Weckler said. "We have a good running game, but even when we face teams that are good at stopping the run, few of them are also good at stopping a passing game with a good quarterback and four good receivers."
Speaking of good receivers, Day caught 3 passes on the day for 124 yards and Tucker caught 4 passes for 40 yards. Kyler completed 11-of-12 passes for 193 yards.
Antioch's big gainer on the day was junior Hunter Price. He rolled up 129 yards on 26 carries.
"We were driving on them, and we were getting yards, but a penalty or a broken play hurt us," Price said. "But we still stayed together as a team and tried to finish strong."
After the game, Antioch head coach Brian Glashagel took his team back to the team room and had every coach in the program say a few words about the game and the season. Some of the players spoke as well. There were plenty of tears.
"I knew we were going to be good this year, but I didn't know we were going to be this good," Glashagel said. "This is a little bit of a group of overachievers. Their off-season commitment was unbelievable and they did a really good job. They were hungry. I will remember this group for that."