Class 3A semifinals: No. 6 Montini Catholic Broncos (9-3, 2-1) vs. No. 1 Byron Tigers (12-0, 9-0)
Kickoff: Saturday, 1 p.m. at Duffy Memorial Stadium, 19W070 16th Street Lombard, IL
Enrollments: Montini Catholic (488), Byron (453)
Coaches: Montini Catholic- Mike Bukovsky (7th season, 44-26 record), Byron- Jeff Boyer
Streaks: Montini Catholic- 4 wins, Byron- 12 wins
At Stake: No. 6 Montini Catholic has made it all the way to the state semifinals in the Class 3A tournament, but they have undefeated No. 1 Byron this week to see who goes to the final.
What to watch for: Montini Catholic has been rolling through the playoffs and last week Alex Marre scored three second half touchdowns to lead the team to a 27-9 win over No. 2 Princeton. Now the Mustangs are looking for another upset keep their state championship hopes alive.
Last week Marre had 183 yards on 21 carries with three scores. He has been the top player for the Mustangs all season, with 1,399 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging seven yards per carry. He averages 116 yards per game on the year. He can also do damage returning kicks, as he has taken three back for touchdowns and is averaging 37.8 yards per return.
Gaetano Carbonara will be under center, and this year he has 16 touchdowns and seven picks while throwing for 1,892 yards. Last week he was 6-for-11 for 57 yards.
George Asay is coming off a five catch, 50 yard game. He leads the team with 36 catches for 516 yards ad two touchdowns. Santino Florio had a rushing touchdown last week and leads the team in receiving yards and touchdown catches with eight. He has 30 catches on the year, good for second on the team.
On defense watch out for Sean Hubeny, who leads the Mustangs with six picks. Nicky Castaldo and JC Hayes can get to the quarterback, as they have seven and five sacks apiece. Nick Irion also has five sacks and a pair of picks. Jeremiah Peterson has a team high 112 tackles and has also picked off two passes this year.
"Byron is an excellent team, and they have a strong football tradition," said Coach Bukovsky. "They are talented and well coached and it will be a great challenge for us this Saturday. I hope that our strength of schedule will be a plus for us, as we have played three schools still in the semi finals (Providence, Nazareth, and St Laurence) and beaten two of the three. Also playing Hillcrest (5A playoff team), St Viator (4A playoff team) and Brother Rice (7A playoff team) has hopefully grisled us and prepared us in the right way."
Byron has been on an absolute warpath this year, outscoring opponents 728 to 67 and winning all 12 games.
Last week they knocked off Durand/Pecatonica 63-15 in a game where they led 42-7 at the half and never looked back. They had a 27-8 first down advantage in the game and gave up only 100 yards passing and forced a pick.
Caden Considine led the way with 15 carries for 197 yards and three touchdowns last week. Ashton Hankel is also dangerous running the ball, with four carries for 96 yards and two of the carries for scores. He also had a pick six in the game.
Ayden Shank tossed one pass in the game, complete for a 32-yard touchdown to Brayden Knoll.
They relied almost solely in the running game, tallying 498 yards on the ground and 530 total yards, while allowing 197 yards.