Montini cruises past Aurora Christian

It was a cozy, family-like gathering Friday night in Lombard for Montini's homecoming game against Aurora Christian. The Westerkamp cousins assured the packed crowd they would be celebrating a dominant victory long after the postgame alumni social.

Montini (5-2, 4-0 Suburban Christian Blue) took advantage of an opening kickoff fumble by the Eagles, which put the Broncos in the red zone.

A mere 12 seconds into the game, Montini senior quarterback Matt Westerkamp found cousin Jordan for a 20-yard touchdown in the back corner of the end zone.

Montini went on to win 42-0 in Lombard.

"The opening turnover was a big momentum shift," Matt Westerkamp said. "Then that first pass play set the tone for the rest of the game."

For Aurora Christian (4-3, 1-3), the opening turnover had a devastating familiarity that has plagued the Eagles throughout conference play.

"Against Marian Catholic, Marmion and now this game against Montini, we have fumbled the opening kickoff and lost all three fumbles," Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe said. "Against good programs you can't put your backs against the wall that early."

Montini then added another touchdown pass via the Westerkamp connection on a 29-yard slant across the field.

The Eagles responded by mounting their best drive of the game and found themselves at a crucial fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Quarterback Anthony Maddie was stopped a yard short of the end zone, thwarting Aurora Christian's attempt to get back into the game.

"The other play that killed us was not being able to get it in on fourth down," Beebe said. "If we make it 14-7, it could be a different game. This game is played on emotion, and it would've changed the emotion aspect of the game."

A third first-half touchdown catch for junior Jordan Westerkamp gave Montini a 21-0 lead after the goal-line stand.

"It's good having a family member as your quarterback," Jordan Westerkamp said with a smile. "Matt throws a great ball and makes my job easy. We have that connection."

The first half ended with a boom for the Broncos, as they finished off the half the way they began it when Anthony Taylor juked his way for a 47-yard touchdown catch-and-run as time expired. Taylor finished with two receiving touchdowns and a rushing touchdown with more than 100 all-purpose yards, as the Broncos also churned out 173 rushing yards.

"We've been trying to stress the running game so the defense can't sit back and take away the passing game," Montini wide receivers coach Bob Westerkamp, Jordan's dad, said. "You can see each week, they're getting more comfortable with each other and have that sense between the two of them."

For Maddie it was his second crushing defeat to Montini in less than a year; he lost the Class 5A championship while quarterbacking Joliet Catholic last November.

"Last year was really rough, and I had to think about it all year," Maddie said. "Then when I transferred I knew we were going to play them again and now I have to think about losing to Montini for another year. I need to be the best leader I can and rally the team."