THE SKINNY
A short day at the office for the Montini starters, who rolled up 271 yards of offense in the first half and scored on seven consecutive possessions on the way to a 49-0 halftime lead in the Suburban Christian crossover at Wheaton College. Montini defensive back Josh Belt set up the Broncos’ sixth touchdown after returning an interception to Wheaton Academy’s 26-yard line late in the second quarter. The Broncos scored on consecutive plays from scrimmage as Alex Wills found Leon Thornton from 34 yards out and sophomore backup quarterback Tyler Millikan hit Tyler Tumpane on a 26-yard touchdown strike.
TURNING POINT
Wheaton Academy quarterback/defensive back Nathan Lopez left a scoreless game with a little more than three minutes remaining in the first quarter after injuring his right shoulder while making a hit on Montini’s Thornton. Lopez completed two of four passes for 11 yards and ran for 18 yards on three carries before leaving the game.
THE STAR
Wills was an efficient 7-for-13 passing for 139 yards and two touchdowns before exiting late in the second quarter. He also ran 4 yards for a score.
BY THE NUMBERS
Nicholas Italia had 71 yards and two touchdowns on five carries for No. 5 Montini (3-0). Five-foot-7, 190-pound John Gemmel was a workhorse for Wheaton Academy (1-2), carrying the ball 14 times for 63 yards and catching four passes for 19 yards. The Broncos’ defense limited Wheaton Academy to 79 yards and four pass completions on 17 attempts before the break.
QUOTABLE
“We’re coming together real good, instituting the new offensive scheme and the new way we’re doing things. It was hard in the beginning, but now we’re clicking and moving really well. Tonight was a big night for us. It was kind of like our breakout game. We hadn’t been able to move the ball on the ground the first two games like we had wanted to, but tonight we really did it the way we wanted to.” – Montini senior center Frank Vosicky
