St. Rita’s late charge from 18 points down stuns Montini

Trailing by 18 points with 4:57 to play in the third quarter, St. Rita rallied behind four Brandon Johnson Jr. touchdowns to spoil Montini’s homecoming with a 39-38 road win on Friday night.

“Defensively, we had a little bit of a collapse,” said Montini coach Mike Bukovsky. “Those kids didn’t quit. We knew this was gonna be this kind of game.”

The Mustangs (3-3, 1-1) have faced a gauntlet through six weeks, dropping games to Providence, Loyola, and St. Ignatius. It has molded them into a difficult team to put away.

The Broncos (4-2, 1-1) sprinted out to an early lead, as 5-star Miami commit Israel Abrams found the end zone first. He unleashed a 67-yard touchdown to Damacio Ortegon to make it 7-3 early.

He then ran for a score and threw a pair of touchdowns that helped put Montini in front 31-13 with 4:57 to play in the third. From there, St. Rita climbed back into the game.

They kicked a field goal, recovered an onside kick, and drove for a Johnson Jr. touchdown, his second of the night. After a successful two-point play, it was suddenly a one-possession game.

St. Rita stunned the home crowd by recovering another onside kick, keeping the Broncos offense on the sidelines. With the Montini defense gassed, Johnson Jr. ran for his third touchdown to tie things up.

Abrams finally retook the field and led his team to a score to make it 38-31 midway through the fourth quarter.

However, Johnson Jr. would go on to score his fourth touchdown of the night and St. Rita converted another two-point play to make it 39-38 with 2:52 to play.

The score would remain that way as the Mustangs stunned Montini despite Abrams’ five combined touchdowns.

“The biggest thing you gotta do coming off this big loss is just fixing things,” said Montini linebacker Ben Evenson, processing the loss. “I think we keep getting after it, keep playing as a team.”

Evenson knows a thing or two about leading through adversity.

The 6-foot-2 senior was recently honored as the 2026 recipient of Montini’s Bumber’s Corner Locker, which is awarded to the player who exemplifies the sportsmanship, determination, and leadership of former linebacker Brad Bumber, a 1989 graduate who served as a team captain.

Bumber passed away in 2015 after a long battle with cancer. His locker has been awarded since 2018.

“Montini football means everything to me,” said Evenson. “What Brad Bumber did was amazing — just being able to honor him and his life, and his career, is just a big honor to me.”

Evenson holds a Division I offer from Mercyhurst. He is key component to the Broncos defense as they look to rebound moving forward.

“He takes a lot of pride in what he does,” said Bukovsky. “He’s a kid that’s not gonna take any short cuts.”

Montini will look to get back on track next Friday at De La Salle.