Antioch coach Del Pechauer did not even realize how well his team played against Libertyville on Saturday afternoon.
The Sequoits banded together to force five turnovers and build a 27-0 halftime lead en route to thrashing No. 12 Libertyville 41-6 in the North Suburban Lake contest.
Antioch (5-1, 2-1) did not commit a turnover and forced five Libertyville turnovers in beating the Wildcats for the first time since 1991.
“I didn’t think we played as well as we did,” Pechauer said. “We had no turnovers. The last few weeks, we had many turnovers. Last week, we threw five interceptions and we worked on that this week.”
It was Antioch’s day from the start. Ari Brown intercepted a Libertyville pass on the first play from scrimmage, setting up Adam Jordan’s 31-yard field goal.
Antioch extended its lead to 17-0 later in the first quarter on Mark Purnell’s 13-yard touchdown run and Brandon White’s 45-yard scoring pass to Brown. Purnell finished with 114 yards in 25 carries and scored three touchdowns.
Jordan added a 21-yard field goal to make it 20-0 before Antioch’s special teams broke Libertyville’s spirit.
Antioch blocked a Libertyville field-goal attempt and Eric White returned it 55 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half.
“We were outhit, outcoached, outhustled and outplayed,” Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski said. “Not for just one quarter, but for the whole game. Any chance for momentum we had was taken away by the last play of the first half. Instead of us putting three points on the board, [Antioch] put on seven.”
Mike Ver Lee’s 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was all Libertyville (5-1, 1-1) was able to muster.
Plainfield 36, Oswego 34
No. 19 Plainfield squandered a 19-point fourth quarter lead against Oswego before Graham Margherio’s 38-yard field goal with 14 seconds left lifted the host Wildcats to a 36-34 win. The victory was Plainfield’s first in 11 tries against Oswego and upped the Wildcats’ Suburban Prairie Red win streak to six games.
Margherio’s field goal and recovery on his own ensuing kickoff negated a spirited comeback by Oswego (3-3, 2-2). Plainfield (6-0, 4-0) took a 33-14 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 50-yard touchdown run from Jake Shields. But Oswego answered with three straight touchdowns, including a pair of passing scores from quarterback Mickey Resner, to take a 34-33 lead with 1:26 left. Plainfield then marched 46 yards in five plays to set up Margherio’s game-winning kick.
“All I was trying to do was keep my mind clear so I would put it through the uprights,” Margherio said. “As soon as the ball went down I knew I was going to get it through.”
Plainfield, which retained sole possession of first place in the conference, took a 26-14 lead into halftime on Shields’ 56-yard touchdown run. Shields finished with 210 yards in 15 carries and added 106 yards in four receptions. His 50-yard touchdown run in the fourth gave the senior his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season.
St. Francis 28, Imm. Conc. 21
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St. Francis (6-0, 4-0 in the Suburban Catholic) rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit as Matt Henning and Dave Ryan combined for three second-half touchdowns on short runs. Ryan, who also scored St. Francis’ first-half touchdown, finished with 146 yards in 28 carries and three touchdowns. Bill Dunne scored twice for Immaculate Conception (3-3, 1-3), including once on a 76-yard punt return. Joe Mastrino added a 95-yard kickoff return for a score for IC.
“It is a real tribute to the mental toughness of our team to come back after halftime and get the win,” St. Francis coach Bill Barz said. “We persevered and came back and played 24 minutes of tough football, after playing 24 minutes of poor football in the first half.”
In other games:
Mt. Carmel 40, De La Salle 16: Marty Quinn rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 6 Caravan (5-1, 4-0) stayed perfect in Metro Catholic Blue play. “We tell the kids that consistency is more important than greatness.” Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti said. “We’re starting to get consistency on offense, but not on defense.”
De La Salle drops to 3-3, 1-3.
Willowbrook 42, Morton 7: Aaron Burns rushed for 171 yards in 12 carries and scored three touchdowns for No. 18 Willowbrook (6-0, 3-0) in the West Suburban Gold.
Bolingbrook 33, Stagg 14: Filling in for injured tailback A.J. Johnson, Josh Taylor rushed for 183 yards in 19 carries and a 70-yard touchdown as the No. 20 Raiders (5-1, 3-1) won in the SICA Gray. Jermaine Austin added two rushing touchdowns for the winners.
Dave Mordis and Brendan Meany had touchdowns for Stagg (2-4, 1-3).
Crane 34, Flower 16: Melvin Woodard ran for 178 yards in 23 carries and scored three touchdowns as Crane (6-0, 5-0) cruised in the Public Chicago West.
Evergreen Park 39, Sycamore 14: Mark Sizemore rushed for 338 yards in 28 carries and scored three touchdowns as the Mustangs (3-3, 2-2) rolled in the Suburban Prairie White. Sizemore scored on runs of 39, 50 and 61 yards.
Hillcrest 14, Rich Central 8: Willie Smith rushed for 108 yards in 24 carries and a touchdown for the Hawks (2-4, 1-2) in the SICA Green.
Holy Cross 28, St. Joseph 13: Garrett Wolfe rushed for 269 yards in 34 carries and scored four touchdowns for the Crusaders (6-0, 4-0) in the Catholic Metro Red. Holy Cross totaled 403 yards on the ground. Wolfe has 1,134 yards in six games and has scored 15 rushing touchdowns.
Lemont 25, Ridgewood 17: Kire Popovski rushed for 120 yards in 27 carries and scored the winning touchdown to lift Lemont (3-3, 2-1) in the Suburban Prairie White. Lemont, which only had 168 yards on offense, excelled on special teams–returning a kickoff and a blocked punt for touchdowns. Popovski’s touchdown was set up by Lemont’s second blocked punt.
Leo 41, St. Francis de Sales 0: Anton Davis threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as Leo (1-5, 1-3) rolled in the Catholic Metro Red.
Loyola 17, Brother Rice 0: Chris Fox ran for 98 yards in 17 carries and scored a touchdown as the Ramblers (5-1, 3-1) earned the Catholic Metro Blue shutout. Tim O’Connor’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Tom Rasso in the first quarter put Loyola on the board.
Manley 28, Clemente 8: Paris Burnom completed just 5-of-8 passes, but four of them went for touchdowns as Manley (4-2, 2-1) won in the Public Illini Northwest.
Marmion 23, Aurora Central Catholic 6: Billy Bartlett tossed two touchdown passes and Dan Jackson scored a touchdown and kicked a field goal for Marmion (4-2, 3-1) in the Suburban Catholic.
Prairie Ridge 29, Cary-Grove 6: Matt Raine and Joe Ure combined for 274 rushing yards and two touchdowns as the Wolves (5-1, 5-1) rolled in the Fox Valley. Prairie Ridge took a 21-0 halftime lead.
Prosser 39, Foreman 0: Chris Harris had 127 yards in 20 carries and a touchdown for the Falcons (5-1, 4-0) in the Public Chicago North.
Riverside-Brookfield 42, Yorkville 13: Tim Brasic rushed for three touchdowns and threw for two more as the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0) rolled in the Suburban Prairie White.
St. Viator 42, Nazareth 7: Sophomore running back Nick Schey rushed for 232 yards in 26 carries and scored two touchdowns as the Lions (5-1) rolled in the non-conference game.
St. Viator quarterback Brett Basanez was 12-of-16 for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and he also ran for two scores.
Steinmetz 43, Amundsen 6: Howard Moody and Armando Reddick each scored two touchdowns as the Silver Streaks (4-2, 3-1) rolled in the Public Chicago North.
Wheaton Warrenville South 17, West Chicago 6: Luka Ulicevic kicked three field goals and Dan Brauer fired a 34-yard touchdown pass to Joe O’Brien for the Tigers (4-2, 2-2) in the DuPage Valley.