JESUS CANO
Prep2Prep Adult Contributor

October 21, 2019

ANTIOCH — During the Bay Valley Athletic League bye week, Antioch didn’t spend the vacant slot taking it easy. After struggling on offense all season and with key players being sidelines with injuries, the Panthers’ coaching staff decided to shake things up a bit by incorporating a double-wing offense.

Saturday afternoon at the Mayor’s Cup was showtime for the debut of this new offensive scheme, and it paid off. Antioch retained the Mayor’s Cup for the fifth year in a row over crosstown Deer Valley, 49-16.

“We wanted to put our running backs on the field more,” said Antioch head coach John Lucido. “We (coaching staff) were all on the same page. The guys stepped up to the occasion and then we just got it running on offense.”

It got off to a shaky start. Deer Valley came into the game 0-7, and threatened in the red zone early but failed to convert. When Antioch got the ball back they were forced to punt. It was all back and forth until Raider Vreonis scored Antioch’s first touchdown of the game after being set up by Dwight Turner on a 40 yard-run.

The run oriented offense flourished in this game, just like the Panthers' defense. In the first half, the defense provided for five turnovers and three turnovers on downs, two of them in which Deer Valley threatened in the red zone.

In the second quarter, Antioch’s new offense paid off. Rocco Borrelli threw his first touchdown pass of the game to Rickey Martinez, a soaring 31-yard pass on play-action. Borrelli was limited to throwing with the new offense but went 5-of-5 for 147 yards as the Panther receivers ran wide open due to a Deer Valley defense which had geared up to stop the run.

Antioch took advantage of the turnovers, and they did it quickly. After two fumbles in consecutive possessions by Deer Valley, Antioch scored the next play. The first on a long 40-yard run by Donovan Fells and a 14-yard one by Jaysn Wade.

After another turnover, Borrelli tossed his second touchdown pass, this time finding Shamar Lemmon. Cal commit DeJuan Butler got one more rushing touchdown in before the end of the night to make it 42-0.

Wade ran in his second touchdown of the night to make it 49-0 by the end of the third quarter. The senior also had an interception on defense.

"It was good. We had about a week and a half to learn it and I think we did great,” said Wade about the new offense. “We still gotta clean up some stuff though.”

Deer Valley nailed in a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but it wouldn’t be close. The Mayor’s Cup remained on the Panthers' campus for the sixth time in a row.

Antioch is still in the hunt for the BVAL title, and that road continues next week at home vs. Freedom while Deer Valley hosts reigning BVAL champion Liberty next Friday at 5 p.m.