1-minute drill comes through for No. 6 Antioch in eliminating No. 3 McHenry

McHENRY – Antioch’s girls flag football team worked all season on their one-minute offense.

It never resulted in six points. Sixty seconds on the clock, and maybe that many plays not executed on offense.

“Last practice, it was just all one-minute drills,” Antioch junior Abby Fuesting said.

And then, Thursday night at McHenry’s McCracken Field ... it worked. Six points.

The Sequoits may have had the best one-minute stretch of their season. Starting at its own 20, Antioch scored with two seconds left in the game, as freshman quarterback Tanner Ludwig threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Evelyn Baronello in the end zone, lifting the Sequoits to an 18-12 win over the host Warriors in the teams’ regional final.

Fuesting prevented a potentially heartbreaking ending for Antioch, as she chased down McHenry’s Gabrielle Grasser at about the Antioch 25 after a long pass play, sending sixth-seeded Antioch (19-6) into the Harvard Sectional. The Sequoits will play District 117 rival and No. 2 seed Lakes at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

“I have been working with such an amazing group of young women who have dedicated themselves since Aug. 14 every single day,” Antioch coach Tammy Johnson said with happy tears in her eyes. “They are amazing athletes, people, teammates, and I could not be more proud.”

No. 3 McHenry finished 14-3.

“It was a good game,” Warriors coach Dennis Hutchinson said. “[Antioch] put it together. We knew they were going to get the ball to [Baronello] on vertical routes. We game-planned it. They just got over the top. They made the play when it mattered.”

McHenry, which scored the game’s first TD when sophomore quarterback Brooklyn Anderson connected with Chloe Casey on a 27-yard strike in the first half, took a 12-6 lead with 14:02 to go in the second half. Anderson hit speedy senior Gabrielle Grasser over the middle, and Grasser did the rest on a 40-yard passing play that came on third-and-24.

Antioch answered with Fuesting scoring on a 6-yard run with 6:15 to go to tie the score. Then after McHenry’s offense stalled, the Sequoits went to work quickly with about a minute left. Ludwig completed back-to-back passes to freshman Reese Queensland for 19 yards and then threw a 40-yard completion to Baronello, putting the ball at the McHenry 29.

“We knew this game was going to be close, so we have been practicing a one-minute drill, where I don’t call anything,” Johnson said. “They quite literally take control of the offense on the field, and they do what they do, and it’s amazing.”

Ludwig winged the football on the winning drive and, well, winged it.

“We really didn’t have a play set up,” Ludwig said of her winning throw to Baronello. “I said, ‘Hey, just do a Hail Mary. Let’s go for it. We have nothing to lose.’ I just said I’m going to chuck it, and it worked.”

Baronello made a lunging catch in the middle of the end zone, tumbling to the turf with defenders on her.

“I thought I was going to catch it, yeah,” Baronello said with a smile. “I ran. But when it went over my head, I didn’t know if I was going to catch it. I just put my arms out, and I hoped for the best, and I caught it.”

McHenry wasn’t done, even with two seconds on the clock and the ball at its own 20. Anderson threw a short pass to Grasser, who took off. She zigged, zagged and sped away from defenders down the right side.

Fuesting showed off her speed too, catching Grasser about the Antioch 25 to end the game.

“She plays both sides of the ball, and she just ran out of gas,” Hutchinson said of Grasser. “A lot of track girls out here, on both sides.”

Fuesting is one of those track athletes.

“I just came because it’s running,” Fuesting said. “I like running.”

Antioch’s run continues.