Sophomore QB Israel Abrams throws 4 TDs, Montini soars past Wilmington in Class 3A semifinal

LOMBARD – The fireworks and flyover had nothing on the Montini offense.

After the spectacular pregame festivities set the tone for the Class 3A state semifinal in Lombard, it was the Broncos and quarterback Israel Abrams who stole the show Nov. 23.

[ Photo store: Montini vs. Wilmington ]

Tossing four touchdown passes, the sophomore signal-caller led Montini to a convincing 42-12 victory over defending Class 2A state champion and previously undefeated Wilmington.

In returning to the state title game for the first time since 2018, the Broncos (11-2) will take on Monticello (11-2) at 4 p.m. Friday at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal.

Abrams connected with Santino Florio and CJ Harkins for two scores apiece and finished 9 of 16 through the air for 177 yards. Florio found the end zone on catches of 12 and 29 yards while also rushing for 40 yards on three attempts. Harkins had touchdown receptions of 23 and 58 yards.

“This is unbelievable,” Abrams said. “This is what we’ve worked for. Ever since last January, we’ve been preparing for moments like this. Everybody came together as one group. We are all a family. We got it done, just execution, execution, execution. State was our expectation. Anything less we looked at as a failure.

“This is well-deserved, no luck. This is truly well-deserved because of all the hard work we’ve put into this. It’s been amazing to see the team come together like this.”

Jeremiah Peterson added 140 rushing yards on 15 carries.

The Montini defense, which has yet to allow more than 21 points in a game, pitched a shutout in the second half. Senior Vince Irion put the exclamation point on the team effort with a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

“We all played together last year,” said Irion, whose twin brother Nick blocked an extra-point attempt in the first quarter. “We play well together as a (defensive) unit. It’s a big family out there. We play complementary football and we hit hard. A big chunk of this team played on the Lombard Falcons. We’ve been playing together forever.

“Every year, it’s our goal (to go to state). During our summer camp, we go to North Central and everybody stands up and says their goals. I would say 75% of us said, ‘Win state.’ We believed we could do it and now we have to finish it out.”

Irion pointed to a players-only meeting after a Week 4 loss to Fenwick left the Broncos with a .500-record. Saturday’s win was Montini’s ninth in a row.

“We had to figure some things out,” Irion said. “We talked to each other and said our focus had to be better to reach our goals.”

The victory helped ease the painful memory of last year’s state semifinal, when the Broncos fell to eventual state champion Byron 26-20.

Montini will be looking to win its seventh state championship in program history, the first of which came in 2004 with head coach Mike Bukovsky serving as the defensive coordinator. The Broncos also have three state runner-up trophies.

“I just knew they were going to play loose today because they finally had the chance to do what they wanted to do,” said Bukovsky, who remembered losing to Wilmington and then third-year head coach Jeff Reents in the second round in 1996. “Everything was pointing to this game. They had a chance to go on the field and get the step (trip to state) that we’ve wanted to get (for a year). This means everything to these guys. I feel so great for our kids. These kids have been unbelievable for two years now. I’m so thankful for them and this is something they’ve earned.

“Hats off to Coach Reents, they do such a great job. That is a great program. And now [this] week we are going to do everything we can to represent this program and this school in the best way that we can.”

The loss marked the end of an incredible 25-game win streak for the Wildcats (12-1), a streak that began in Week 2 last year. Saturday was the first time all season that Wilmington had allowed more than 18 points.

Hunter Osipavicius scored on an 18-yard run for Wilmington and Ryan Kettman added a 3-yard TD reception from Lucas Rink to make the score 28-12 at halftime. Kettman finished with 87 yards rushing on 24 attempts and Shawn James had 60 yards on 12 carries. Ryan Nelson forced a fumble on a sack.

“It’s a tough group to say goodbye to these kids,” said Reents, who also led the program to state titles and undefeated campaigns in 2014 and 2021. “We came out with high expectations but also knew that we were going against a great team in Montini. We knew we couldn’t give up big plays and we gave up big plays a lot. Their offense was on the field more than we needed but they have a lot of weapons who are tough to defend.

“Even though we had a tough time today, it’s an awesome group of kids. Such a special group, a lot of multiple-sport athletes. Hopefully our younger guys were able to look at them and take lessons from that.”