Antioch's in its element
It didn't come wrapped up in a nice, pretty package.
No bows or shiny paper.
Driving rains, bitter cold, squishy mud and a 50-minute lightning delay will rob just about any team of style points.
But Antioch could have been playing in a snowstorm, a tsunami or a combination of the two Friday night. As long as the Sequoits came out on the winning end of their crosstown rivalry, they didn't care how it looked.
After all, 9-0 is 9-0 - and that's exactly what Antioch is now after a 50-7 rout of visiting Lakes in the final game of the regular season.
The victory, highlighted by a record-setting performance by running back Cameron White, gives Antioch a perfect season for the first time since the 1983 team went spotless 25 years ago. It also guarantees a home playoff game next week for the Sequoits, who have made quite a turnaround in the last year.
Antioch finished last season with a 3-6 record - not even close to playoff material.
"The rain was fun for me," said Antioch linebacker Nick McKenzie, who was all over the field helping the defense smother Lakes' offense. "We didn't care. It was just about 9-0. What a great feeling.
"This means everything to us, coming from where we were last year. I'm going to go back (to the team room under the home bleachers) and everyone's probably going to be crying."
McKenzie felt like crying during an IHSA-mandated lightning delay that occurred midway through the first quarter. He says he was throwing up during almost the entire hour break.
"But I came back out and had the game of my life," McKenzie said. "I just had fun."
Near the end of the first quarter and again early in the second, on back-to-back Lakes possessions, McKenzie recovered a fumble each time. Antioch then scored almost immediately.
By halftime, the Sequoits turned a 7-7 early first quarter tie into a commanding 36-7 advantage.
White had 3 touchdowns by halftime and wound up with 4 touchdowns on the game.
The touchdowns gave White a new school record for touchdowns in a season. He now has 26 on the year, surpassing Nick Nathan, who scored 23 touchdowns in 2004.
"Good players, no matter what the conditions, are still pretty good," Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said of White. "You see guys slipping and for some reason, he has traction."
White wound up with 134 yards on 13 carries. He is now just 241 yards away from becoming Antioch's all-time leading rusher, another distinction currently held by Nathan.
"I just tried to plant my feet as much as I could," White said of his impressive jaunts through the rain. "The records are nice, but they really don't mean anything. I just want to win state."
With White rolling up the yards, and fullback Steve Lorenzini (18 carries, 184 yards and 1 touchdown) and running back Vinnie Holm (1 touchdown) posing a big enough threat to keep defenses honest, the Sequoits seem to have as good a chance as anyone.
"They're a great team and they finished their season the way they wanted to," said Lakes coach Luke Mertens, whose team (3-6) got its only touchdown on a Josh Gaido 4-yard run with about seven minutes left in the first quarter. "They have three really good running backs and it's tough to stop that."