A New Golden Era?
Montini football wins back-to-back state football titles
The Golden Era of Montini football was a 12-season stretch from 2004 through 2015 in which the Broncos won six state championships, including four in a row.
Could the Broncos start another big era of bringing home the gold?
That remains to be seen, but the team has built a nice foundation with back-to-back championships – a 3A title in 2024 and a 4A crown in 2025. Montini beat Rochester 47-33 on November 28 at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal for not only a second straight title but for just the second 14-0 record in program history, joining the 2015 squad.
Prior to the season, coach Mike Bukovsky looked at the players who graduated and the schedule the Broncos would face, and wasn’t sure what was going to be in the cards.
“Personality-wise, I think we had a strong group of seniors (in 2024), and we had to replace a lot of guys defensively – that was a concern,” he said. “But we did a really good job. The guys stepped up and played.”
Did they ever.
Through five playoff games, the Broncos outscored opponents 226-83. And 47 was their favorite number as they scored that many points against Peoria Notre Dame, Morris, and Rochester in the postseason. Oh, and they snuck in a 47-point performance against Marmion, too, during the regular season.
Also during the regular season, they had some exciting battles against Lumen Christian of Michigan (21-16), Marist (28-21), Fenwick (31-29), and Carmel (55-54).
Bukovsky thought that the schedule filled with Chicago Catholic teams helped toughen the team up.
“It’s always a double-edged sword,” he said. “The years we missed the playoffs, I wasn’t too happy about the schedule. But it is a great slate of games, and you just can’t help getting grizzled when you play this schedule each week and have the kind of games we had.”
Junior quarterback Isreal “Izzy” Abrams led Montini with more than 400 passing yards in the championship win.
Junior quarterback Isreal Abrams did his thing in the championship game. He entered the game with 3,647 yards and 36 touchdowns and added to those gaudy totals by throwing for 418 yards and four touchdowns, including two scores to Luca Florio and one each to Damacio Ortegon and Nico Castaldo. The quarterback ran for 59 yards and another score, while Charles Flowers ran for 103 yards and a touchdown.
Bukovsky likes having a 4,000-yard quarterback return next season.
“Izzy’s been a great competitor for us,” he said. “Last year, he did a lot for us in the playoffs and put us in a great position. Our offense emerged under him. Izzy has been hungry for two years, and it’s great that he has embraced everything we needed him to do. Like any player, he has things he is working on, but he had a great year.”
Orlando Greco led the defense with 11 tackles, while Payton Nelson and Johnny Louise helped stop Rochester’s drives with interceptions.
Senior linebacker Laddie Asay, the heart of Montini’s defense, returned this season after battling back from an ACL injury.
The heart and soul of the defense has been senior linebacker Laddie Asay, a Downers Grove resident who missed the 2024 championship season.
“He was a starter as a sophomore for us and was a tremendous player,” Bukovsky said of Asay. “Week 1 of his junior year, he went down with an ACL injury and missed the entire season. Watching him on the sideline, he was watching his teammates go through the playoff run and through the state run and all of that was hard on me. His heart was just bleedin’. He just couldn’t wait to have this opportunity senior year and get the most out of it. He’s a great young man.”
Asay had the honor of having the Bumber’s Corner Locker in the home locker room this season. It’s named after former Montini player Brad Bumber, who died in 2015 of cancer. Asay was the eighth player to earn the honor.
“He just did everything right in the offseason,” Bukovsky said of Asay. “He’s one of those guys who was always ahead of schedule. He was champing at the bit trying to lift and trying to run. All he could talk about was getting back.
I had a great, great moment with him in our first game. After the game, we broke the huddle, and Laddie had tears in his eyes and said, ‘Coach, I forgot how awesome this is.’ It made me take notice because he put so much into it mentally, physically, and emotionally.”
Montini celebrates its second straight state championship and a perfect 14-0 season at Hancock Stadium.
