Antioch’s Athan Kaliakmanis tosses 4 1st-half TDs in win over North Chicago

ANTIOCH — Minnesota-bound Athan Kaliakmanis has raised his ability at quarterback to another level. His role leading Antioch shows his growth and efficiency from all of his work effort over the last four years and through offseason work through the quarantine.

Kaliakmanis (11 of 13 passing for 232 yards) threw for four touchdowns in the first half as Antioch rolled past North Chicago, 61-6, in a Northern Lake County Conference game in Antioch on Thursday night.

“This week we took practice very seriously,” Kaliakmanis said. “Week 2, we got it all together. I’ve worked so hard on my accuracy and my arm-strength. I’ve done a lot with my dad (Alex). He has shown me a lot of things with research. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t look this good.”

“One of the things was the decisions he’s making at the line and checking in and out of plays,” Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. “He had a couple of great checks. My plays are suggestions to the quarterback, if they see anything else to check off. He had a couple of nice checks and it put us in a better position to move the sticks. It was really good decision-making on his part.”

Antioch (2-0, 2-0) raced out to a 46-0 lead in the first half as the Sequoits scored on every possession.

“Everybody kind of concentrated,” Glashagel said. “One of our goals to be better, just better concentration. We were just kind of out of it last week (vs. Grayslake Central). It was a lackluster game, here we got the juices going. We just got everything rolling.”

Dino Kaliakmanis added 40 yards on nine carries with rushing touchdowns of 1 and 8 yards and he caught a 42-yard pass. Joseph Neumann caught two touchdowns (12 and 52 yards), while Anthony Bowles and Douglas Schultz caught the others.

Reino Hill and Evan Day added a couple of rushing scores in the second half for the Sequoits.

Antioch’s Jackson Gutke recovered a fumble early in the game that set up the Sequoits’ first possession at the North Chicago 32-yard line.

“I feel like it was the start of our game,” Gutke said. “It helped bring a lot of energy to the team. The defense starts the game to help the offense. We just want to bring the energy.”

North Chicago (0-2, 0-2) got on the board in the final quarter, when Kyndel McKnight threw a 38-yard pass to Shalen James.