Israel Abrams’ 3 TD passes, tough Montini ‘D’ turns away Carmel

LOMBARD – In clutch situations Friday night versus visiting Carmel, the Montini coaching staff exhorted their players on the field to ‘do your job.’

They did just that, and very well too.

The Broncos employed a terrific aerial attack and tough defense against the Corsairs to come away with a 34-16 victory in a CCL/ESCC White division matchup.

“It’s a big all-around win for the team,” said Montini sophomore quarterback Israel Abrams, who threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns.

He added that to him, ‘do your job’ means that he and his teammates just have to “go out and execute.”

“Execution is a big thing for us, we have to go out and make the plays,” Abrams said.

Broncos senior lineman Ty Haney said the key to the victory was that “everyone on our team worked together.”

“Everybody was moving in one motion,” Haney added. “Even though we had some setbacks, we got the job done.”

To Haney, ‘do your job’ means “go out and do what you’re supposed to do.”

“Get the job done,” said the senior, “and do it right. That’s all.”

Carmel QB Trae Taylor had 166 yards passing, and running back Donnie Dey finished with 124 yards on the ground, but Corsairs coach Jason McKie felt that his team just didn’t do enough.

“We didn’t play well, and they (Montini) wanted it more,” McKie said. “That’s what happens when you don’t show up and you have (an opponent) that wants it.

“Montini showed up, they came out and played good football, and that’s how the game goes sometimes.”

Abrams’ three touchdown tosses all came in the first half, 48 yards to Santino Florio, 19 yards to Nico Castaldo and 37 yards to CJ Harkins.

Carmel mixed in a field goal (34 yards by Jack Doyle), and with seven seconds left before intermission faced a 4th down and goal from the Montini 2-yard line.

They went for it, and Montini defensive back Nick Irion led a charge that saw the Broncos stop Dey just short of the goal line.

“We had the momentum going into halftime,” said McKie, “and then we made a call down at the goal line. We felt like we could score but they got a stop and took the momentum away.”

Trailing 21-3 going into the third quarter, Carmel quickly cut into the deficit on a 22-yard touchdown pass right down the middle from Taylor to Jarren Black.

But the Corsairs couldn’t sustain the effort, and Montini made it 28-10 early in the fourth on a 3-yard touchdown run by Jeremiah Peterson.

Another Montini rushing TD followed, this time from 9 yards away by Santino Tenuta.

A 16-yard touchdown pass in the final minute from Taylor to Carmel junior Eli Jackson accounted for the final score.

“Hats off to them (Montini) tonight,” said McKie. “They played a good game.

“You never lose,” added the coach, “you learn. What did we learn tonight - too many missed tackles, too many dropped passes. We’ve got to execute better if we want to compete.”

Harkins had 5 catches for 90 yards for the Broncos.

“This is obviously huge for the playoffs because we want to get to that five win mark,” said Montini coach Mike Bukovsky.

Montini is now 4-2, 1-1, while Carmel fell to 3-3, 0-2.

“This was a huge game and I challenged our guys to step up,” Bukovsky said. “A really good game against a good program and an excellent team.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241005/prep-football/montini-does-its-job-and-then-some-in-big-win-over-carmel/