No worries for Montini in win over Marian Central

Trailing by two touchdowns in the second quarter, plenty of Montini football followers had reason to worry, but not quarterback Brandon Pechloff.

The Broncos senior had a feeling his team's offense would come up big in Saturday's Class 5A second-round playoff with Marian Central Catholic (8-3), so he wasn't too concerned about the Hurricanes' 14-0 lead early in the second quarter Saturday afternoon in Lombard.

And after Pechloff was done throwing for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns and his team's defense was done totally shutting down No. 4-seeded Marian Central over the final 21/2 quarters, the 12th-sedeed Broncos (7-4) had a 42-21 victory that avenged a regular-season loss to their conference rivals and also lands them a spot in next week's state quarterfinals against Sycamore.

"I definitely thought we'd win," said Pechloff, who completed 19 of 33 passes, including TD passes of 8 and 6 yards to sophomore wideout Anthony Taylor. "I had a dream last night that we'd score 42 points. I'm not kidding. And our receivers just make plays. If I'm in a tight spot I just put it in there and they make the plays."

Hurricanes coach Ed Brucker, whose school had a 4-1 playoff mark against Montini coming into Saturday's action, agreed with Pechloff that the Broncos' offense does indeed make plays. But it was the Broncos defense, which adjusted after allowing two scores, that played just as big a role in the outcome.

"They brought more people up to the line of scrimmage and we couldn't handle it, I guess," Brucker said, after watching his tailback Corey Cavitt gain 103 yards in the first half but just 17 yards on 11 second-half carries.

With a stout defensive line led by Ross Ferraro III and linebackers Ryan Gorrell and Doug Diedrick charging the line, the Hurricanes were limited to one score over the final 21/2 quarters and it was set up by a fumbled punt return by the Broncos.

But at the same time Montini's offense began to click, with Christian Westerkamp and Taylor each hauling in scoring passes as the hosts drew even at 14-14 at the half. It was 21-all after three quarters before the Broncos broke open the contest with 21 points in the fourth quarter, featuring one touchdown each on offense and defense by Gorrell.

"We made some adjustments and we blitzed a little more which rattled them," said Gorrell, who ran for two scores on Saturday and also iced the victory with a 30-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. "We had a little bit of revenge factor, just like with St. Francis last week. We're the last team left in the conference, so it's kinda like we're the conference champs."

Broncos coach Chris Andriano admitted to being concerned after Cavitt's two TD runs had his squad down 14-0, but he also admitted to knowing that his team's offense can put points on the board in bunches.

"It was 14-0 and they were taking it to us," he said. "I didn't have an answer in our normal defense. We had to go to some gimmicks and go with an eight-man front. They dominated early, but we were able to come back with a lot of big plays."

Jordan Westerkamp had 7 catches for 110 yards, while Nick Campanella, Christian Westerkamp and Taylor also wreaked havoc on the visitors' defense.

"We're a dangerous team and we're playing a lot smarter now," Andriano said. "We're a pretty good first down team and a pretty good third down team. When you do that you've got a chance to put some noise on the scoreboard."