With the run-dominant triple option running roughshod over opponents year after year, Antioch quarterbacks typically accrue more mileage with their legs. Ethan Patel understands that.
New personnel can change the line of thinking, however, and the Sequoits have given the 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior more opportunities to attack defenses through the air.
“Obviously, you want to throw the ball as a quarterback,” he said. “I’ve been preparing my whole life to do that, and it’s great having all the weapons we have. So we changed up a couple concepts and are spreading it out a bit more.
“We can beat you any way we want.”
Patel and the Sequoits (2-0), who also feature their top three rushers from last season, demonstrated that in their first two games.
During Antioch’s 34-27 season-opening win over Schaumburg, senior running back Gavin Stone rushed for 186 yards, and Patel threw for 132 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Chance Verden.
Patel then threw for 216 yards, including a 72-yard TD pass to Verden and a 58-yard TD pass to junior running back Logan Lennon, and also ran for 191 yards during Antioch’s impressive 34-21 win over Lake Zurich last week.
“As much as you see it in practice and camp, to see that kind of production translate in the first two games is great,” Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. “Those two teams should be pretty good, and I’m really proud of how Ethan has come out and played.
“You see how he’s thrown it, and he’s playing smart football, doing things like changing plays at the line of scrimmage.”
Patel’s success comes after a late-season stint in place of injured quarterback Colin Arquilla, who’s playing at Quincy College. Patel threw for three TDs in the Sequoits’ 49-0 road win over Grayslake North in Week 7.
“That’s when I knew all the hard work I had put in was paying off,” he said. “Even though I was the backup, I was still preparing like I was playing, watching film. Then I got my moment and took advantage of it.”
The next week wasn’t so seamless. Antioch lost 25-20 at Wauconda, which won the Northern Lake County Conference title.
“I still think about that game a lot,” Patel said. “I was a bit nervous going in because it was a huge matchup. I think I could have played better — gotten the ball out quicker, made better reads.
“We still threw the ball pretty well against a really good team. It was like a preview of what could be seen.”
The main feature is now playing. Lake Zurich, which beat the Sequoits by a combined score of 68-0 in two games last season, is the first team to see the difference. The Sequoits’ will play Wauconda, the only other team to beat them last year, in the regular-season finale.
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“We’ve been working out hard since the last Lake Zurich loss (in the playoffs), and it gave us something to bounce back from,” Patel said. “They shut us out twice last year, and those were bitter losses. Then we scored five touchdowns on Friday. On the second play of the game, I hit Chance for a long completion, and then Logan took a short seam route all the way.
“I feel like a point guard, getting everyone into the right situations to take our shots when we have an advantage.”
To take advantage of Antioch’s plethora of talent at the skill positions, some new sets, including more two-receiver packages, have been incorporated.
“I’d say the best part of my game is my deep ball,” Patel said. “I think I put the ball in a place where receivers can go and get it. My skill set plays into our team’s strength.”
Making the Sequoits’ stronger, Patel convinced Verden to return to football after he didn’t play in 2025. Through two games, Verden has 210 receiving yards, which is almost half as much as the team-high 428 yards totaled over 11 games last season.
“I know he’s always got faith in me and is always pushing me to get better,” Verden said of Patel, with whom he competed at quarterback as a freshman. “As a thrower, he’s lethal. He throws a good ball, always a tight spiral, and makes the ball easy for me to catch. And in the huddle, he’s always hyping us all up.”
An argument can be made that the Sequoits haven’t had a quarterback playing at this level since 2021 graduate Athan Kaliakmanis, who has made the Washington Commanders’ initial 53-man roster after he was picked in the seventh round of the NFL draft in April.
Kaliakmanis, whose youngest brother, Andreas, is a junior linebacker for the Sequoits, spoke to the team earlier in the summer before he went to training camp.
“He talked to us about the importance of being together with each other and understanding the journey we’re all going on with each other,” Patel said. “It’s really cool having a guy like that who plays the same position having success at the highest level.”
Patel, who also plays basketball and runs track, knows these Sequoits haven’t accomplished anything yet.
“It’s nice to be getting some recognition, but we have a lot of season left,” he said. “I feel like I’m just doing my job and we have a lot of goals left to accomplish.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.