Try asking Antioch junior safety Jack Bucar after every game how he managed to change the outcome.
Bucar might have a different answer each time.
“Playmakers make plays, plain and simple, and he’s stepped up all year to do that in a variety of different ways,” Antioch coach Brian Glashagel said. “He made another big play tonight.”
Glashagel was referring to Bucar’s interception in the first half of the Sequoits’ Northern Lake County Conference home game against Wauconda on Thursday. Knowing the Bulldogs would have to pass the ball more after falling behind, the 5-foot-11, 160-pound Bucar keyed on what he gleaned from film study during the week. He knew Wauconda junior Nicholas Ori, a 6-3, 190-pound wide receiver, posed a challenge.
“All week long, we talked about making sure to stop the deep ball to him,” Bucar said. “I saw the ball in the air and said to myself, ‘That’s mine.’
“He’s got a big height advantage on me, but when the ball was in the air, I tipped it up and managed to get under it.”
Bucar’s second career interception helped the Sequoits win 38-24 and take sole possession of first place in the conference with two games left in the regular season.
Junior defensive back Brady Rietschel also made an interception for the Sequoits (6-1, 5-0), who have won six straight. Senior running backs Martin Cohen, who rushed for 97 yards on 11 carries, and Brooks Welsch each had two rushing touchdowns, and there was a little razzle-dazzle mixed into the offense as Cohen threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Mason Bussone on a halfback option.
Antioch led 14-0 early in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs (5-2, 4-1) didn’t get any closer.
“We had a lot of guys step up, especially on both lines,” Bucar said. “The way they blocked for us on offense and on defense, their backs didn’t do a lot against us.”
Bucar, who has been doing plenty for the Sequoits in his first full season as a starter, said his big break came last year.
“Getting into the starting lineup midway through last year was a huge opportunity for me,” he said. “The year before, I was only a freshman. I was small and a lot slower, and to get to the point where I was starting was a big accomplishment.”
Bucar made the most of the opportunity and didn’t rest on his laurels in the offseason.
“Here’s what he did,” Glashagel said. “He ran track, and he’s gotten a lot stronger lifting weights, so he’s transformed his body. This isn’t a surprise or something that just happened. He’s put in a lot of time and a lot of work to find ways to get on the field.”
Once Bucar is on the field, he has the versatility to take on different roles. He’s a mainstay on a defensive unit that had yielded just 32 points in the previous four games. He also gets some carries out of the backfield behind Cohen, who holds Antioch’s career records for touchdowns and points scored.
Bucar has made quite a mark on special teams too. He returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown against Grayslake North on Oct. 4 and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown earlier in the season. He even pounced on an onside kick on Thursday.
“Every time I’m on the field and I look up, there’s Jack Bucar with the ball somehow,” Antioch junior cornerback Evan Shanks said. “He’s become a really good football player and gotten a lot bigger, faster and stronger since he was a freshman.”
Bucar has put points on the board on offense and defense too. He has scored a touchdown on a carry and returned a fumble 16 yards for a touchdown.
“When I see the ball, I go get it,” he said. “That’s how it goes. It’s pretty simple.”
Bucar isn’t just a ball hawk, though.
“Where I play at safety, you don’t get a lot of tackles, but when I see an opportunity to hit somebody, I hit somebody,” he said. “That’s what I like doing the most. That’s a big part of the game. I love striking fear into the other team.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
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