Antioch had established early control of its season opener at Schaumburg, but the Sequoits needed to hold off a tenacious home team to earn a 34-29 win Friday at Gary Scholz Stadium.

The Sequoits got a late defensive stand plus a game-clinching first down on their final possession to avenge a season-opening home loss to Schaumburg last year.

“We put our defense in some really bad situations and they responded and worked their tails off to preserve the win,” Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. “(Offensively) the game came down to crunch time and we put the ball in our (starters) hands and they got it done.”

The visitors (1-0) got on the board thanks to the first of three touchdowns from quarterback Colin Arquilla, a 3-yard keeper, that put them up 7-0 at the 9:43 mark of the first.

Perhaps the play that set the tone took place as Antioch defender Keyshawn Wilson scooped up a stripped football from a Saxon player at the Sequoit 10 and turned it into a 40-yard run back that put them at the midfield stripe.

Two plays later, it became a 43-yard Gavin Stone (14 carries, 197 yards) TD jaunt that advanced the Antioch advantage to 14-0 at the 6:07 mark of the opening period.

Antioch’s special teams came up just as big as they blocked a PAT after a Ray Black 6-yard TD toss to Vince Heydecker (14 carries, 66 yards) and then obtained a stoppage on a two-point conversion run that came after Heydecker’s second TD, a 12-yard run.

Those scores were sandwiched between Arquilla’s second TD from a yard out that left them up 21-12.

After a 22-yard Gabe Carris field goal pulled the hosts within 21-15, Arquilla completed a short three-play, 81-yard drive with his third TD of the night, a second 1-yard keeper that moved the Sequoits’ lead to 28-15 with 3:44 left until the break.

After a little razzle-dazzle that featured Saxons WR Rafael Medeiros throwing a TD pass to Jack Baker that pulled Schaumburg within 28-22 at half, Kelen Wilson’s 4-yard run with 4:41 left in the third put the Sequoits up 34-22.

The home team closed the gap to 34-29 in the closing seconds of the quarter when Medeiros scored on a run from 10 yards out, setting the final stage of action.

It came after a Matthias Zubcek recovery at the Sequoits’ 26 with 4:05 remaining that put the home team in a position to win.

But the Antioch defense held the Saxons to minus-6 yards that concluded with a pair of incomplete passes by Black (15 of 24, 125 yards).

The Antioch offense then got a pair of first downs to run out the remaining 2:51, including a 15-yarder by Arquilla (20 carries, 100 yards) and Logan Lennon (8 carries, 71 yards) to seal the deal.

For Antioch, which hovers between classes 5A and 6A, this contest as well as its home opener in Week 2 against Lake Zurich represent a pair of golden opportunities to face quality competition prior to beginning its defense of the Northern Lake County title on Sept. 12 when it hosts Grayslake Central.

The Sequoits have won the last three NLCC crowns and eight of the last nine while posting a 58-4 mark in league play. Wauconda shared the title last year with Antioch.

“Our goal is to win conference and make playoff runs,” Arquilla said. “We’re just dying to fix all the little things and do all those little things right.”