This time, the win goes to the Broncos

Sure, the Montini and St. Francis football teams are conference opponents, but there has been something a little more between these two in the past two years.

In 2008 in the regular season, the Broncos beat the Spartans. When the two faced off in the Class 5A state quarterfinals, St. Francis won and eventually went on to win the state title.

This year in Week 4, St. Francis topped Montini in a convincing 51-31 win. In a coincidence, the No. 5 seeded Spartans drew the No. 12 seed Broncos in the first round of the 5A playoffs.

The Spartans may have entered as the favorite, but Montini proved otherwise with its solid 28-3 win Saturday at West Chicago's turf field.

With the win, the Broncos, who have now made 17 consecutive playoff appearances, improved to 6-4 overall and will take on yet another Suburban Christian Conference opponent, Marian Central, on Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. in Lombard.

"It's been kind of eating at us, that playoff game last year and having St. Francis beat us in the first game of the conference season this year," Montini coach Chris Andriano said. "If you have pride in what you are doing, it doesn't sit well, and you want another chance. We have a lot of guys with a lot of pride. Montini football means pride and it was great to see our kids respond in the right way."

St. Francis capped the season 7-3 overall. All the losses were from conference opponents, including a Week 3 loss to Marmion and a Week 7 defeat by Marian Central. The Spartans' seniors won an amazing 20 games over the past two seasons.

"They became a powerful program fast," Montini star quarterback Brandon Pechloff said. "A lot of people didn't know how to handle it and we didn't know how to handle it...but we made it happen and that's a great feeling."

Pechloff was a huge reason why the Broncos had so much success. He threw three touchdown passes, including two in the second quarter to sophomore standout Jordan Westerkamp. His third pass was in the fourth to the elder Westerkamp, Christian, a senior. Another senior, Nick Campanella, scored on a 19-yard run in the final frame. Junior Matt Kersten was a perfect 4-of-4 on extra-point attempts.

St. Francis' points arrived in the second on junior Matt Krese's 29-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Pechloff finished 14-of-22 passing for 177 yards and credited his success to the Westekamp brothers and Campanella.

"All three of us, me, Jordan and Chris, we've developed such a connection," Pechloff said. "It's a great feeling. You throw to one of them and you know one of them will catch it. (Against St. Francis), Jordan just happened to be open. The receivers are amazing too. Nick Campanella makes great plays."

"He's the best quarterback," Jordan Westerkamp added. "He's great. His arm is unbelievable."

Pechloff didn't do so hot against the Spartans in the regular season. This time around, he and the rest of the Broncos did their homework and stepped up every aspect of their game.

"We made a couple of tweaks, a couple of adjustments and just played better," Andriano said.

Perhaps the Broncos will make some tweaks and adjustments when they face Marian again this week. The No. 4 seed Hurricanes (8-2 overall) beat them 20-14 in Week 6 of the regular season. They advanced in the playoffs after beating No. 13 Belvidere.

The 6-foot-6-inch, 230-pound Pechloff, a junior, will start the college recruiting process soon. He said he hasn't put too much thought into it just yet, but he knows the No. 1 thing that will help him get on the radar.

"In my heart, I feel no one is going to look at me unless I win a state championship," he said.

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