NORMAL — Senior Gaetano Carbonara didn’t take a snap at quarterback in Montini’s dominant 49-8 victory against Monticello in the Class 3A state title game Friday at -Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium.
Carbonara, who began the season as the starting quarterback, had two carries. But current starter Israel Abrams, a sophomore, made sure everyone in the postgame news conference knew how vital Carbonara’s contributions were to the team’s season.
“Even if he didn’t care for me starting, he was always there for me and was always a good teammate about it,” Abrams said. “He always pushed me to be a better person and a better quarterback. When I had my head down in the Byron game after two picks, he was there for me. He cracked a joke about it, how he had been there. He’s a real teammate and a good person, and he’s going to go far in life.”
Montini’s win was never really in doubt. The Broncos entered as favorites. Their only losses were to larger Catholic League powers Marist and Fenwick.
Jeremiah Peterson, who had 13 carries for 134 yards, scored on a five-yard run in the first two minutes, and the Broncos rolled from there.
Abrams had a quarterback rating of 242.5. He was 10-for-16 for 225 yards and three touchdowns and connected with six receivers. CJ Harkins had two catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Peterson caught one pass for a 49-yard touchdown for the Broncos (12-2).
Montini started the season 2-2 and held a players-only meeting to get back on track.
“We came together and decided to go to work,” Montini’s Nick Irion said. “We thought we could step it up another level, and we did. And once this team got rolling, we didn’t stop.”
Montini scored 49 unanswered points until Monticello (11-3) scored on a 29-yard pass from Nolan Buehnerkempter to Carter Foran with 30 seconds left.
“[Montini’s] overall speed was impressive,” Monticello coach Patrick Etherton said. “We thought they were fast on film, but they took it to another level today. There were a number of times where it looked like we were there [to stop the play], and we weren’t.”
Montini won the Class 4A title in 2004, the Class 5A title in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and the Class 6A title in 2015. This was the second title-game appearance for the Sages. Monticello won the Class 3A state title in 2018.