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Fast-starting Antioch atones with win at Wauconda

After barely pulling out a late comeback victory against Woodstock North the previous week, visiting Antioch was raring to go right out of the gates Friday night at Wauconda.

The Sequoits took a quick 7-0 lead on a 56-yard keeper by senior quarterback Branden Gallimore and they never looked back in rolling to an impressive 35-14 Northern Lake Country Conference victory over the Bulldogs on their homecoming night.

Antioch (3-0, 1-0) displayed an effective running game basically all night as the Sequoits rolled up 329 of their 360 total yards of offense on the ground.

Trailing 7-0, Wauconda (0-3, 0-1) could not prevent Antioch's time-consuming offense from marching 68 yards on 13 plays on their second possession with Gallimore hitting Steven Baum with a 13-yard pass over the middle with 41.5 seconds left in the first quarter.

The second of five extra points by junior Jay Brown boosted the lead to 14-0 after one quarter.

Turnovers were a huge burden for Wauconda throughout the contest as the Bulldogs had a big opening kickoff return by Andry Nevski go for not when Nevski lost the ball on a fumble at the Antioch 21-yard-line.

The Bulldogs lost the ball all three times they fumbled while Antioch's Andrew Hare intercepted Wauconda quarterback Andrew Saccameno (10-for-19, 127 yards passing) twice.

After the first interception by Hare, the Sequoits added to their lead on the very next play from scrimmage when junior running back Hunter Price (106 yards on 15 carries) bolted right up the middle of the defense for a 10-yard TD run and a 21-0 lead with 9:55 left in the first half.

Wauconda did get their offense going early in the second quarter when a 39-yard keeper by Saccameno put the ball on the Antioch 15.

Six plays later, Saccameno (43 yards rushing) scored on a 2-yard keeper before the extra point by Oscar Acosta cut the lead to 21-7 with 5:16 left in the first half.

But lightning struck again for Antioch on its next possession as Price went 55 yards up the middle for the touchdown after a 24-yard kickoff return by teammate Robert Porter had given the Sequoits excellent field position.

"Basically we did a good job because we lost our two starting guards last week to injuries," said Price, who only weighs 155 pounds. "When we score right away we just keep going, and we're unstoppable when we have a fast start."

After a scoreless third quarter, the Sequoits scored again when Price's 3-yard TD run with 10:29 to play boosted the lead to 35-7.

While Gallimore was kept somewhat in check after running for 79 yards on his first three carries, he still wound up with a total of 123 yards rushing on 12 attempts.

"I thought the focus all week was outstanding by the team and our goal was to start off fast and put the downer on their homecoming," said Antioch coach Brian Glashagel. "We did a lot of good things on offense, we got to the perimeter and we got a lot of people involved in the running game."

"We've got a lot of weapons with a quarterback that can run and throw, and we kind of got everybody going tonight which was nice," added Glashagel.

The Bulldogs closed out the scoring when Saccameno hit Jack Sammons with a 6-yard TD pass with 2:11 remaining to account for the final score.

"We had a great kickoff return that turned into a fumble, and you can't keep giving a team like Antioch extra chances," said Wauconda coach Dave Mills. "To win a half is an improvement, but you can't be behind like we were against a good running team like Antioch."

Nevski led Wauconda with 84 yards rushing on 17 carries while Sammons' strong receiving included a 47-yard reception in the second quarter. Porter ran for 54 yards on six carries.

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