Antioch rolls past Grant

After they wrestled each other to the ground, Antioch sophomore quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis the first to his feet as if to say, "Not in my house."

"I really wanted to break that tackle," said Kaliakmanis. "But he (Grant defensive back John Bolton) and I are good friends. If I had broken the tackle, then I might have talked a little trash to him."

Actually, Kaliakmanis didn't need to talk any trash as the host Sequoits handled Grant 42-7 on a chilly and windy Friday evening. It was the 24th consecutive win in conference for the Sequoits, who became playoff eligible by improving to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the league.

"I have a great crew around me, from the line to the receivers, the running backs-and we have great coaches," said Kaliakmanis, who played freshman ball at Carmel Catholic before transferring to Antioch last winter. "My parents prepared me well and I feel a lot more educated about the game after playing last year."

Kaliakmanis got the Sequoits rolling in the first when he hit a streaking Zach Grindley from 31 yards out a 7-0 lead with 6:10 left in the first.

Kaliakmanis then hit junior wide out Max Turner down the right sideline for a 19-yard score and Antioch was off to the races.

"Every team in this league is a great team," added Kaliakmanis, who wound up completing 8 of 17 passes for 138 yards and the two scores. "We were fortunate to be able to jump on them early."

Senior running back Nick Wiley then did his thing, racing for a 4 yard touchdown with 2:45 left in the halftime to help propel the hosts to a 21-0 lead.

After a turnover on downs, Grant (2-3, 2-1) gave the Bulldog faithful signs of hope when junior quarterback Tyler Elfering floated a 31-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Noah Lautner and cut the deficit to 21-7 with 6:05 left in the third.

But the Sequoits answered right back when Wiley dashed in from 5 yards out to make it a three score game again.

Then came Kaliakmanis' 37-yard run where he ran into Bolton, helping set up a 2-yard run by Wiley and 35-7 lead with 9:51 left in the game.

Senior running back big Ben Nauman then rumbled in from 24 yards to make it 42-7 with 2:23 left.

"We just played good fundamental football and are taking it one game at a time," said Sequoits coach Brian Glashagel. "And one thing we did tonight for the first time this season was hit all of our PAT's."

Nauman finished with 138 yards on 8 carries and a TD, while Wiley raced 24 yards on 10 carries and two scores. Kaliakmanis did some nice scrambling and running to the tune of 66 yards on 10 carries, while junior DB TreShawn Watson had 2 catches for 44 yards.

Elfering connected on 6 of 15 passes for 94 yards and the TD. He also rushed for 56 yards on 19 carries, while Lautner led the ground attack with 70 yards on 12 carries.