Woodstock is familiar to Montini in first meeting
Saturday will see a first - the first time in history Montini and Woodstock will play each other in football.
Somehow it seems like we've been here before.
"They're similar to Marian Central for us," begins Montini coach Chris Andriano. Then it starts to makes sense.
When these unfamiliar foes take sides for the 1 p.m. Class 5A semifinal at John L. Duffy Memorial Field in Lombard for a shot at either Joliet Catholic or Peoria Richwoods in next week's state championship game, there will be a seven-degrees-of-separation thing going on.
Steve Beard is coach of the No. 7 seed Blue Streaks (9-3). They've beaten Orr, Lakes and, last week, Glenbard South to reach the 5A semifinal for the first time since the program won the 1997 5A title under Ed Brucker.
A 1992 Woodstock graduate, from 2000-02 Beard served as an assistant coach to Brucker.
When Brucker left in 2003 - for Marian Central - Beard took over the Blue Streaks.
Which leads us to Andriano comparing Woodstock's offense to that of Marian Central - at least in the days of quarterback Jon Budmayr.
"They're a good throwing team and a wide-open team," Andriano said of Woodstock's offense headed by All-State quarterback Logan Kunzie, a 6-foot-3 senior who has completed 181 of 314 passes for 2,779 yards, 34 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
"Coach A (Andriano) has been to the state championship and his staff has, too. They're going to be prepared," Beard said.
"Both teams will score points, but I think it's going to come down to turnovers, penalties and special teams," Beard said, sounding like a veteran already.
Andriano pointed out that while Montini (8-4) still has that No. 12 seed in front of it, technically making the Broncos the underdog, this far down the line that's a moot point. When X's and O's are inseparable other factors can determine the outcome.
Like heart.
"They want the same thing as us - they don't want to go home either, we're both fighting for the same thing," said Montini senior free safety Nick Campanella, zeroing in on Woodstock's 61-catch, 1,018-yard receiver Mike Kremske.
"We've just got to play our A game," Campanella said. "We have to make them get out of their game. We have to play hard and physical, play four quarters of football."
It took the Broncos one quarter of football to separate themselves from a solid Sycamore team in last week's quarterfinal.
Leading 17-14 at halftime on the road, Montini adjusted to stop Sycamore's strong ground game and scored on successive touchdown passes to Christian Westerkamp from Brandon Pechloff in an eventual 31-17 Broncos win.
In three playoff wins Pechloff has thrown for 658 yards, 9 touchdowns and only 1 interception. On Tuesday, like Woodstock's Kunzie, the 6-foot-7 senior was selected to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 5A All-State Team.
"We're probably a team that wasn't expected to be here," Andriano said. "Now we're playing our best football. It's in our hands, they know that. This is the team I expected to see basically all year long, that we didn't see.
"We're taking care of the ball. Brandon's just playing better, and we're making better decisions. I think maybe it's the coaching aspect of the game, better coaching, but mainly it's the quarterback, it's his game.
"The place is buzzing over here," Andriano said.
At John L. Duffy Memorial Field in Lombard, that is indeed a familiar sound.