Montini puts up 75
The disparity between the teams in the Suburban Christian Conference reared its ugly head again.
Montini with its enrollment of slightly more than 1,100, marched into Melrose Park and dismantled an undermanned Walther Lutheran squad 75-0 in a battle of Broncos on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon.
“It wasn't meant to be that way,” said Montini coach Chris Andriano about beating the conference crossover opponent with barely 400 students. “If we set up our conference the right way, we shouldn't get these types of games. Hopefully, we can fix this because games like this are not good for anybody. We didn't try to embarrass them, but score-wise it just ended up that way.”
Andriano's squad scored pretty much whenever it wanted. Montini (6-2) amassed 358 yards of total offense in the first half as it opened up a 45-0 halftime lead, and the maroon and gold clad Broncos only needed 23 offensive plays to do so.
Quarterback John Rhode picked up where he left off since his return to the field from a preseason thumb injury. Rhode completed 12 of 18 passes for 344 yards and 4 touchdowns in his one half of work. Rhode tossed 2 touchdowns each to receivers Jordan Westerkamp and Anthony Taylor. Westerkamp was Rhode's favorite target with 6 catches for 124 yards. Rhode has 15 touchdown passes since his return.
“These past few weeks we've been able to get Rhode back into the fold and we've been able to build up some confidence,” said Taylor, who had touchdown receptions of 44 and 56 yards. “It is a good thing because we're going to need confidence when we get to the postseason and play better competition.”
Montini didn't attempt a pass in the second half as its run game took over while a running clock was in full effect. Running back Dimitri Taylor tallied a 42-yard scoring run and teammate Jack Williams scored on a 45-yard run of his own. Montini had 122 rushing yards with 108 coming in the second half.
Anthony Michelson capped the scoring when the reserve junior lineman scored the most unlikely punt return. Michelon's 7-yard punt return came as the result of a punt that was mis-hit by Walther Lutheran's Paul Stahlke.
“I thought it was going to be a normal punt about 30-40 yards up the field, but the ball came right to me,” Michelon said. “I caught it and I didn't even know what to do with it. I just ran into the end zone.”
Montini's defense was never really challenged as it held Walther Lutheran (2-6) to minus-4 yards rushing, 30 yards passing and forced 10 punts.