On Sept. 10, the most anticipated football matchup of the year was played as the Antioch Sequoits won the conference home game against the Lakes Eagles 49-13.
The Sequoits’ legacy carries on as a seven year winning-streak against their infamous crosstown rival. Many students, parents and staff are excited as the legacy of victory continues, but the actual football players are even more elated. Senior Payton Holmes discusses on behalf of his team how the first win of the season finally shows their hard work and talent paying off.
“I’m pretty pumped we beat Lakes,” Holmes said. “The whole team played pretty amazing.”
By the end of the first quarter, Antioch already had two impressive touchdowns by sophomore Martin Cohen and both extra points were successfully kicked by junior Carter Webb.
“The offense had a really good game,” Holmes said. “Defense could have stepped it up a bit more, but that’s on me and everybody else on the team.”
Unfortunately, throughout the second quarter, Antioch’s defense had a minor setback as Lakes scored one touchdown. Thankfully, the offense made an amazing comeback with another touchdown by junior Nick Day and another extra point by Webb.
Senior Ryan Raiman also agrees with Holmes’s statement. Although Raiman has been unable to play as much during the past seasons due to injuries, he still remains a key player on Antioch’s defense along with Holmes.
“We still have some things to improve on to perfection,” Raiman said.
Their growth, motivation and teamwork is even displayed throughout the game as the talented Day showed an extremely impressive game with three touchdowns in the third quarter.
The second half had Antioch’s defense and offense stepping it up and dominating with a final touchdown by junior Kellen Brawner and an overall 49-13 win. The varsity team uses this game as motivation for improvement and self reflection. Junior Ryan Swanson gives insight to the player’s mindsets and thoughts overall.
“I feel like the whole team played well because we beat them in the end. It’s about taking the ‘me’ out of ‘team’,” Swanson said.
Antioch’s next game is away at North Chicago, Sept. 16. One more game for the Sequoits to win.
