Jaxon Lane, Montini deny Byron 2-point conversion in final seconds, win dramatic rematch

LOMBARD – Jaxon Lane’s football intellect clued him into what number Byron was calling with the game on the line Saturday.

Then the Montini senior linebacker’s instincts took over.

As Byron prepared for a 2-point conversion try – and the win – with 10.9 seconds left, Lane and teammate Vince Irion noticed that No. 1, Brayden Knoll, was talking a little more to the Tigers’ coaches.

“We had an idea it was going to him,” Lane said. “It was in the back of my brain, reading my keys first.”

[ Photos: Montini vs. Byron ]

Lane hit Knoll just short of the goal line, and Knoll’s stretch with the ball just missed breaking the plane. The dramatic finish sent Montini past defending state champion Byron 14-13 in the Class 3A second-round game, and in the process snapped the Tigers’ 24-game winning streak.

“My D-line did a great job of keeping guys off me,” Lane said. “I saw a hole, and I was able to take it. I was nervous when he stretched, but glad we got it. All thanks to my teammates.”

Knoll’s 10-yard touchdown run capped off Byron’s furious – yet, true to its nature, methodical – 12-play, 77-yard drive in the final 1:53.

With shades of Byron’s Week 8 win over Dixon, which came down to a game-winning 2-point conversion, the Tigers (10-1) went for the win. And called the same play that Knoll scored on. This time, inches short.

“When we’re going for 2, we’re confident – our whole offense is based upon getting 2-3 yards,” Knoll said. “We were confident we would get it, ran the same play we did on the touchdown. We gave it our all, but they had the extra guy. I saw the hole, linebacker came in, I reached.

“Wasn’t enough.”

Lane, like Knoll, had confidence, even after giving up the long touchdown drive.

“Our D-coordinator has a saying, don’t blink,” said Lane, who had 14 tackles for the game. “Forget about the last play. Think about the next.”

It was enough for Montini (9-2) to turn the tables on a 26-20 loss to Byron in last year’s Class 3A semifinal. This time the Broncos shut out a Byron offense that had scored 511 points through 10 games well into the fourth quarter.

How much preparation went into the much-anticipated rematch?

“356 days, to be exact,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. “We started preparing for a while. We did some things last week that in all my years of coaching I’ve never done: we looked ahead. I was really hurting doing that, but I realized we had to get a few extra 4-5 days, and it paid off.”

Jeremiah Peterson rushed for 110 yards on 17 carries and both touchdowns for Montini, and sophomore quarterback Izzy Abrams ran for 50 yards while completing 10-of-13 passes for 56 yards.

Peterson’s second touchdown, with 1:56 left, gave Montini a 14-7 lead, and came a play after Byron was called for a roughing the kicker penalty on a missed field goal.

With a second chance, the 5-foot-11, 220-pound back knocked over a Byron defender like a bowling pin on his way to the end zone. Peterson’s 42-yard rumble was the big play on the drive.

“I devote myself to not letting one person tackle me, ever,” Peterson said. “Especially inside the 10-yard line, nobody can stop me.”

Peterson earlier rammed in a TD from a yard out, set up by Abrams’ clutch third-down completion to Santino Florio near the goal line, for the game’s first points with 1:29 left in the third quarter.

Back came Byron, Andrew Talbert’s 6-yard TD run on a QB keeper capping off a 15-play, 80-yard drive to make it 7-7 with 6:12 left.

“You have to give [Byron] a lot of credit – there’s no quit in them,” Bukovsky said. “That’s why they’ve been to my mind the best team in Illinois, certainly in our class and maybe others, the last two years, and you see why. Until their last dying breath, they didn’t go down.”

Neither, though, did Bukovsky’s defense, a far cry from last year’s meeting.

“We were very physical and we challenged our guys all week long,” Bukovsky said. “Last year we gave up 400 yards rushing to these guys. They kind of beat us up a little bit. It was not a fun week of practice. We challenged them, and they came through.”

Caden Considine rushed for 148 yards on 34 carries and Knoll 50 for Byron, which had 284 yards as a team on 57 carries in its first loss since the 2022 state semifinal to IC Catholic Prep.

Knoll didn’t like losing, but could appreciate the dramatic conclusion.

“We practice the two-minute drill every Thursday in practice. We got it done, we just couldn’t close it out,” Knoll said. “Couldn’t have asked for a better game.”

Neither could Montini, and it’s on to a quarterfinal next week at Princeton.

“Definitely this is a great step, but we have to put it in the past and focus on the next game,” Peterson said. “This is a great team win, great team to beat, but it’s just one win. Tomorrow it’s back to work.”