Montini ready for showdown
One more hurdle.
All that stood between Montini and a Suburban Catholic Conference showdown against Driscoll was Saturday's football game against St. Edward.
Montini took care of business by cruising to a 52-0 victory over the Green Wave in Lombard, setting up perhaps the most highly anticipated game in conference history.
The Broncos (8-0, 6-0) will travel on Saturday to Addison to play fellow unbeaten Driscoll (8-0, 6-0) in a regular-season finale to decide the outright SCC champion.
After eight weeks of buildup, Montini can finally start talking about the game of the year.
"That game's going to be a war," said Broncos senior John Borsellino, who had 10 catches for 96 yards, scored 2 touchdowns and intercepted a pass. "The environment's going to be incredible."
Montini had little trouble against St. Edward (1-7, 1-5), which broke a 26-game losing streak with last week's win over St. Francis.
The Broncos stormed to a 21-0 lead after one quarter before St. Edward slowed the momentum with a trio of second-quarter stops featuring interceptions by Ryan Gilbert and Nevin Bens.
Montini scored 3 touchdowns to start the second half, building a 45-0 lead by the end of the third quarter.
"They're a great program," said Green Wave coach Mike Rolando. "I saw them recognizing their seniors, and they had as many seniors as we had players. We know it's a tall order for our boys, and they played tough."
Montini rolled up 414 yards of offense as Tom DiCristina completed 16 of 22 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. He also ran in 2 touchdowns.
Broncos coach Chris Andriano sat running back-linebacker Dex Jones for what he termed "grade issues," although Andriano stressed that Jones was not ineligible.
Matt Sloan stepped up with 114 yards and 2 touchdowns on 11 carries. Sean Cahill contributed an 18-yard field goal and backup quarterback Dan Stelter added a 6-yard touchdown run.
The Broncos forced 5 turnovers from St. Edward, including 3 fumbles, and limited the Green Wave to 131 total yards.
"It was a good start, we came out and played real well early," said Andriano, who sounded eager to begin preparing for the Driscoll game. "Everybody's been waiting for this one. Everything's on the line. It should be fun."
-- Kevin Schmit
St. Francis 36, Immaculate Conception 26:ŒMark Kachmer had never scored 5 touchdowns in a game -- till Saturday.
St. Francis' junior running back carried the ball 23 times for 175 yards with touchdown runs of 43, 35, 5, 5 and 11 yards to lead the Spartans to a 36-26 victory over Immaculate Conception in Wheaton.
Kachmer's speed on pitches, off-tackle runs and cutbacks, plus turnovers that bit Suburban Catholic Conference foe IC, sent St. Francis past the Knights' 1-2 punch of Jonathon Ellis and Nick DiBrito, who ran for 181 and 120 yards, respectively.
"It's a good feeling," said Kachmer, held to 24 yards in last week's overtime loss to St. Edward. "I'm just glad that our whole team got this win. We bounced back really well from last week."
In a key sequence separated by halftime, Kachmer took a pitch left for a 5-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Jeff Reckards' conversion run meant a 22-19 halftime lead for St. Francis (3-5, 2-4).
IC (2-6, 1-5) fumbled on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter. St. Francis' Ryan O'Donnell recovered at the IC 28 and shortly after Kachmer added another 5-yard run for a 29-19 lead.
"That was a big momentum change there," said O'Donnell, crediting Kachmer with causing the fumble. "I think once we got that we were just ready to pound it."
Not so fast, Ryan.
Alan Lowrey's fumble recovery and Ellis' 35-yard dive set up Ellis' 1-yard plunge over left guard Josh Fenton to pull the Knights within 29-26 at 2:29 of the third quarter.
The first play of the fourth quarter, however, Dave Palash's interception stole IC's thunder. Kachmer later sealed the win with his 11-yard touchdown run.
"We talk about ball security so much, and it's just been an Achilles' heel for us all year," said IC coach Bill Schmidt. "You look at our turnover-to-touchdown ratio and it's not very good."
The first half was like a tennis match. After Kachmer reversed fields on a 43-yard touchdown run, IC took second-quarter leads of 13-7 and 19-14. The Knights ran for 229 yards in the first half.
"The holes were huge, the offensive line did a great job," Ellis said. "We got the (defensive) fronts we expected and the linemen made the job easy for Nick and I."
Falling consecutively to Marmion and St. Edward by 4 total points wasn't easy on St. Francis. Coach Greg Purnell relished his team's resiliency.
"Coming off those two gut-wrenching losses, it's really tough on our kids," he said. "Boy, they hung together. We had a good week of practice and beat a really gutsy football team. I'm really pleased."
-- David Oberhelman
Lake Forest Academy 51, Wheaton Academy 29:ŒThere's something running in common these days with Wheaton Academy's Josh Kruel and the Chicago Bears' Devin Hester.
It appears both know how to return kickoffs for touchdowns.
In fact Kruel brought back two of them for 91 yards, along with a touchdown reception, and he intercepted two passes on defense.
However, Wheaton Academy lost to host Lake Forest Academy 51-29 in a nonconference game.
Kruel entered the game knowing the Bears practice facility was at nearby Halas Hall and had a good feeling about his game.
"I heard (Hester) practices around here, so I had to do my thing," said Kruel, a senior. "I had it in my mind coming out here. Because I know how Devin Hester runs.
"Every time I get the ball, I run as far as I can every time. I look for angles and where people are coming from and try to get past them."
Kruel had put the Warriors (2-6) ahead 7-6 with 3:36 remaining in the opening quarter with his first 91-yard return.
But the Caxys (3-4) took things over in the second quarter, scoring a pair of TDs for a 22-7 halftime advantage.
Lake Forest Academy quarterback Ryan Dayton rushed for a 33-yard touchdown and Toby Davis caught a 21-yard pass from Dayton.
Wheaton Academy had problems moving the ball in the first half and was held to 3 yards of total offense and had 144 yards for the game.
"We didn't quit and played hard for four quarters," Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson said. "We just didn't play with enough intensity to win.
"Offensively, penalties hurt us in the first half.
"Bottom line, with a new program, you've got to have the intensity. That's been the biggest challenge along with being focused."
The Warriors got within a touchdown at 22-15 with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter when Kruel caught a 10-yard pass from Brian Pell.
Lake Forest Academy answered on a Jeremie Griffin 35-yard rushing score at the 5:20 mark, extending the lead out to 30-15.
On the ensuing kickoff Kreul had his second 91-yard return, which brought the Warriors back and trailed 30-21.
The Caxys then scored 21 unanswered points, pulling away in the final quarter.
"We executed well and it was nice to see," Lake Forest Academy coach Matt Less said. "This is the first year of their varsity program, and they're a tough group of kids. I thought they were a respectable team."
-- Rusty Silber
Downers Grove North 21, Oak Park 12: Snapping a five-game losing streak, Downers North got 150 yards rushing from tailback James Gaston and 2 Marco Diaz interceptions to endanger Oak Park's playoff chances.
"I'm proud that our kids didn't give up," said Trojans coach John Wander after Downers North improved to 2-6, 1-4 in the West Suburban Silver game in Oak Park.
The Trojans took advantage of their staunch defense and a prior leg injury that restricted Oak Park tailback Levell Coppage to take a 14-0 halftime lead.
Downers North scored on Ryan Grezko's 40-yard punt return. The Trojans also used Diaz's first interception to set up a Joe Honn touchdown pass to split end Doug Henry.
Diaz, a junior cornerback, picked off his second interception after halftime, and the Trojans led 21-0 on a 78-yard touchdown run by Gaston.
"We hung in there, didn't turn the ball over, and defensively we did the job," Wander said.
Seeking a third straight playoff berth, Oak Park (4-4, 2-3) entered Saturday's game on a two-game win streak. The Huskies end the regular season against WSS co-leader York.
-- David Oberhelman
College football
Wheaton 28, Augustana 24:ŒWheaton College escaped with a victory in Wheaton.
Thunder quarterback Sean Norris was sacked 5 times and Wheaton was outgained on the ground 231-83, but it managed to pull out the CCIW victory.
Alex Pokorny (Geneva) scored the winning touchdown, pulling in a 44-yard pass from Norris with 5:19 to play. Wheaton had led 21-7 just before halftime before giving up 17 straight points.
Andrew Hershey, Brett Jackson (WW South) and Norris (Wheaton North) each scored first-half rushing TDs.
Benedictine 20, Aurora 17, OT:ŒBrian Goff's 38-yard field goal in overtime lifted the Eagles (3-4, 2-2) past Aurora University (2-4, 2-1) in Lisle, ending the Eagles' 13-game losing streak against Aurora.
The game was tied 10-10 after four quarters, with the Eagles having scored on a 26-yard Goff field goal and Ryan Schwartz's 30-yard third-quarter run.
Aurora scored on Ryne Reder's 51-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and got a 31-yard field goal
Schwartz finished with 136 yards rushing on 32 carries.
North Central 41, Elmhurst 24:ŒElmhurst took a 10-0 lead early, but the Cardinals fought back as quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe threw 2 touchdown passes and ran for 2 touchdowns.
Fanthorpe (Naperville North) finished with 98 yards rushing on 19 carries for the Cardinals (4-2 2-1 CCIW). Dominic Sulo ran for 151 yards and a TD on 26 carries.
The Cardinals scored 24 points in the second half.
The North Central defense held Elmhurst (4-2, 1-2) to 31 yards rushing, but Elmhurst QB Chris Kudyba was 31-of-44 passing for 341 yards and 2 TDs. He also threw 5 interceptions, 2 to Jordan Hoffman.