Israel Abrams’ scramble play sparks Montini to quarterfinal win over Princeton

PRINCETON - Montini coach Mike Bukovsky wanted quarterback Israel Abrams to run out of bounds to give the Broncos a chance for a field goal to close out the first half.

Instead, the elusive sophomore QB kept the play alive, scrambling from one side to the other before firing a 21-yard dart to Santino Florio as time ran out to give the Broncos a 14-7 lead over host Princeton in Saturday’s 3A semifinal game at Bryant Field.

The Broncos got that field goal later in the fourth quarter and tacked on a late touchdown to cap a 24-7 victory.

“I told (Abrams) at half, one of out 10 times, that’s going to end that way. Fortunately for us that was the one time,” Bukovsky said. “But he’s got to run the ball, get out of bounds and get down so we’ve got a shot at a field goal. Now the problem is, he’s super talented and makes a play like that.

“It’s one of those plays, ‘What are you doing? .... Good job, good job.’”

Princeton senior Noah LaPorte said that play really hurt.

“The quarterback extended the play real long,” he said. “You try to lock on as long as you could. That one fast kid got loose. Obviously, that carried momentum over to the second half, but we never gave up.”

The Broncos (10-2) will host No. 2 Wilmington (12-0), which edged No. 3 Du-Pec 14-13 Saturday, in next week’s 3A semifinals.

The Tigers bow out at 10-2, following in the 3A quarterfinals for the fourth straight year, the last two at the hands of Montini on the Tigers’ turf.

“I’m proud of our kids because they just fight. I’m sad to see those seniors go because they’re great kids,” PHS coach Ryan Pearson said.

“I feel like everybody had everyone’s back. We went all out. Some things didn’t fall the way we wanted,” said PHS senior linebacker Arthur Burden, who had an interception and fumble recovery. “That’s football. Nobody on our team backed down.”

“If we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down fighting. That’s kind of team we are. Just give an all-around effort all the time,” LaPorte said. “It didn’t turn out in our favor, but the underclassmen will keep building it and go on to better things.

Abrams got the Broncos on the board with a 25-yard TD pass to Florio at 4:23 in the first quarter.

Princeton answered in the second quarter with a 50-yard TD pass from junior backup quarterback Gavin Lanham, filling in for injured starter Will Lott, to senior Kaydin Gibson. Ian Morris’ PAT kick tied the game with 1:12 left in the first half.

“That was a great play. A huge momentum play,” Pearson said. “We’d been working on that all week. Used Noah as a decoy. Got them to suck up. What a great ball from Gavin and great catch and run by Gibby.”

Gibson, however, injured his right knee celebrating the play and did not return.

Abrams didn’t let the Tigers ride that momentum into the locker room.

The Broncos returned the kickoff to their own 45 and after four runs by Abrams had the ball on the Tiger 21. After a holding penalty, Abrams picked up nine yards to put the Broncos back to the 21. From there he scrambled, kept the play alive before firing to Florio for the 21-yard scoring strike.

“We practice scrambling a lot. He’s athletic, a 6-4 QB that can do and see anything,” Montini senior running back Jeremiah Peterson said. “Watching him make plays is fun. So when he made that play it was very exciting for us.”

“He’s so elusive. You can never get a clean shot on him,” Pearson said. “Not only is he a great thrower, but what he can do with his legs is pretty special. There’s a reason why he’s got Div. 1 college scholarships already. That kid’s only a sophomore. He’s going to be a nightmare for any defense the next two years.

Princeton mounted a 14-play, 54-yard drive to open the second half, but fell short by a yard on a fourth-and-2 play at the Montini 25.

The Tigers also came away empty-handed on a fourth-and-1 from their own 45-yard line at the end of the third quarter and never got across midfield the rest of the way.

Owen Berberich kicked a 27-yard field goal to give Montini a 17-7 lead with 9:06 left in the fourth quarter.

Peterson, who rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries, scored on a 14-yard run with 2:38 remaining to put the finishing touches on the Broncos’ victory.

“Jeremiah’s had a great year for us,” Bukovsky said. “He’s a physical kid and he’s got deceiving speed. Doesn’t look like he can get through a hole that fast, but he does.”

Bukovsky, whose Broncos beat Princeton 27-9 in last year’s quarterfinals, knew the Tigers would put up a good fight.

“We knew this was going to be a sticky game. I give a lot of credit to their kids. They played very, very hard today,” he said. “They lost their quarterback last week and there was no quit or thoughts, ‘Oh, we’re not going to win.’ They fought tooth and nail. They made plays the whole game. They did a super job. That’s a lot to do with their program and their coaching. They had us on the run.

“We expected everything we got from them. They’re physical. Defensively, they hung in there and their offense gave us some headaches.”

LaPorte said the Tigers didn’t pay attention to all the people picking the Broncos to win easily.

“All you see is analytics that Princeton has no chance,” he said. “They’re surprised once we do hang on against good teams like this. It doesn’t surprise us, because we know what we’re capable of. But it surprises all the outside noise.”

Abrams completed 11-of-15 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns and also gained 65 yards on 11 attempts.

“That’s a big weapon. When we can add that component to our offense, that’s hard to stop,” Bukovsky said.

Montini held Princeton to 140 yards rushing with Casey Etheridge totaling 65 yards. Lanham completed 5 of 10 passes for 70 yards.