Time is on Montini's side
Saturday against East St. Louis, wide receiver Leon Thornton III quickly displayed why he's one of Montini's team captains.
"They scored two touchdowns within the first four minutes and I just looked at everybody, I said, 'We have 44 minutes of football left.' And everybody's like, You know what, you're right. And everybody changed their attitude right there."
Beating East St. Louis 46-32 at Duffy Memorial Field in Lombard, the Broncos shook off not only a quick 13-0 deficit but also the specter of their Week 1 disintegration at Maine South.
"It was a huge win, especially after the collapse that we had last week and I knew that it was going to be a test," said Montini coach Chris Andriano. "This was a test, a psychological test, a mental test of how tough we are, how mentally strong we are, and our kids passed."
And passed. And passed. Particularly against a Flyers' run-stuffing defense headed by the state's top recruit, nose tackle Terry Beckner Jr. Broncos quarterback Chuck Norgle completed 25 of 36 passes for 309 yards and Thornton caught 13 passes for 183 yards and 3 touchdowns, one thrown by Justin Blake off a Norgle pitch.
The win came despite East St. Louis running back Natereace Strong's 28 carries for 274 yards and touchdowns of 80 and 14 yards.
The Missouri recruit had 208 yards on 15 carries by halftime and suffered leg cramps much of the second half. The Flyers' walking-wounded included quarterback Rayondus Estes, who threw for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns before Terrell Johnson's blindside hit meant a late fourth-quarter exit.
"We had guys who was unhealthy so we had to fight through it and play with that we had," Strong said. "I just had to play my role and run the ball like my coach (Darren Sunkett) asked - hit the holes, try to score as many times that I can to help my team and put them in a good position to win the ballgame."
It was a winning formula early though Strong fumbled his first carry with no damage done. On its next two touches East St. Louis (0-2) scored on Strong's 80-yard run and Raekwon Griffin's 81-yard punt return less than four minutes in.
Montini (1-1) regrouped, Mason Weissenhofer booting a 33-yard field goal and linebacker Sam Asta taking in Strong's second fumble, from 9 yards out.
"We practice that scoop and score all the time after practice. I got to use it today," Asta said.
East St. Louis sandwiched two scores around a Norgle 1-yard touchdown sneak for a 26-17 lead at 9:02 of the second quarter, but Montini had the final say.
Norgle completed 5 of 7 passes and hit Thornton III on a 26-yard seam pass for a 26-24 lead with 6:10 before halftime. A long East St. Louis drive before the half stalled at the Montini 3-yard line and the Broncos didn't trail again.
In the third quarter Montini put its foot down, Thornton III scoring on catches of 31 and 25 yards.
"Some people got slower, limping. They were just doing better," Beckner said.
East St. Louis pulled within 38-32 late in the third quarter, but Norgle applied the fourth-quarter silencer on his second 1-yard blast behind guards Mario Galli and Michael Johnson and 190-pound center Sam Detmers, who gave up 100 pounds to Beckner.
"We knew we had time," Norgle said. "When we were down 13-0 there was eight minutes left (in the first quarter). Our offense, we can score quickly, we can score often. We were never worried."