Abrams’ 7 touchdowns rally Montini from 15 down to stun Nazareth in final seconds

As long as a football is in the hands of Israel Abrams, anything is possible.

The Montini quarterback proved that over and over Friday night at Nazareth as he kept bringing the Broncos back. When he was done recording his seventh touchdown of the night, he walked off the field with a wild 47-42 defeat of the Roadrunners.

Nazareth led 21-20 at the half, 35-20 after three quarters and then 42-27 with 9:14 left to play.

But fear not Broncos fans, the University of Miami-bound superman had more than enough tricks up his sleeves to pull out the memorable win. After running for three scores and tossing a trio of touchdowns, he capped the amazing evening with a game-winning 33-yard touchdown pass to Damacio Ortegon with 34 seconds to play.

“I don’t lose faith,” said Abrams, who passed for 412 yards and four touchdowns. “We made adjustments at halftime and the energy shifted. Credit the coaches and credit all my receivers. Those guys can play.”

It was big play after big play on Friday and the Broncos (3-1) needed every one of them to hold off a Nazareth team that was led by JJ Chapman’s 301 passing yards and three scores through the air. The Montini defense struggled at times, but made the stops when they were critical in the second half.

Even after the Broncos went ahead 47-42, the Roadrunners (1-3) were not out of it until Montini’s Orlando Greco recorded an interception to seal the win with 10 seconds left.

“At the end of the day we got the win and the defense made the stops when they had to,” said Abrams.

The game could not have started any better for Montini as the Roadrunners turned the ball over on their first two possessions and the Broncos capitalized on each miscue with a touchdown for a 13-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

After Montini punted following the game’s opening possession, the Broncos’ Andrew Chrastka intercepted a Chapman pass to give the visitors the ball near midfield. On the very next play Abrams rolled to his left and heaved a 51-yard strike to Ortegon for the game’s first score. A bobbled snap prevented the PAT and it was 6-0 with 9:25 left in the first quarter.

The Roadrunners then fumbled the ball on their first down after the kickoff and Greco recovered it at the Nazareth 5-yard line. That set the stage for Abrams’ 2-yard touchdown run and a 13-0 lead for the Broncos.

But credit the Nazareth offense with shaking off the rough start and answering with a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter and another score in the second quarter to take a 21-20 lead at the half.