Following Montini's resounding victory over St. Francis in last week's Class 5A playoff opener, coach Chris Andriano greeted the usual horde of media and Broncos backers.

Waiting his turn was Marian Central coach Ed Brucker. Once the crowd dispersed Andriano said the two joked about "the mini-conference tournament we're in."

For as soon as 12th-seeded Montini (6-4) finished celebrating its 28-3 win over No. 5 St. Francis - a far cry from Montini's 51-31 loss to the reigning 5A champions in September - another Suburban Christian Blue foe sauntered in, No. 4 seed Marian (8-2).

They've seen it all before. Montini clubbed Marian 33-0 in the 2007 regular season only to lose 29-15 in the second round of 5A, moving Marian's playoff record against the Broncos to 4-1.

Andriano has said he has no problem with how the 2009 seeds played out. Brucker agreed - with a caveat.

"We're all in the same area and we're all pretty good, so we end up meeting in the playoffs all the time. I think it worked out this year, anyway," said Brucker, whose Hurricanes clocked No. 13 Belvidere 42-6.

"What I would like to see is to go back to the old way, seed it 1-32," he said. "They tried to fix something that wasn't broke."

That, of course, is another story. Saturday's story will concern whether or not Montini can again claim revenge.

Marian beat Montini 20-14 in overtime on Oct. 2, coming back from a 14-0 deficit behind 6-foot-5 quarterback Ben Krol and running backs Corey Cavitt and Jared Koch - who, at linebacker, had the game-ending interception in overtime.

Broncos quarterback Brandon Pechloff was intercepted twice in that game. But St. Francis picked off Pechloff 3 times in the regular season, and the 6-6 senior was sharp and confident last Saturday, tossing 3 touchdown passes to the Brothers Westerkamp, 2 to Jordan, 1 to Chris.

Ball control will be crucial in what promises to be a squeaker.

"It's been our downfall in the games we've lost, and in the games we've won we've executed and played real well. It's definitely a key for us," Andriano said.