St. Francis gains revenge vs. Montini

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What a difference eight weeks can make in a football team!

St. Francis, which allowed 41 points and lost to Suburban Catholic rival Montini by a 20-point margin in Week 4, turned the tables on Saturday by stunning the Broncos 28-14 in Lombard in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoff.

"In the first game, we were too cocky after beating Driscoll and we weren't ready to play them," said halfback/linebacker Mark Kachmer. "We were focused this team. At halftime, even though they were leading, we were pretty confident. We took it to them in the second half."

"We've been waiting for this for four years," said fullback/linebacker Stan Bobowski. "In the first game, we made mistakes and they wanted it more. But this time, we picked up our intensity in the second half. They keyed on Kachmer and left the inside run open. He was opening up holes for me."

Bobowski, a 6-0, 190-pound senior, rushed for nearly 100 yards in the second half and scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as St. Francis (11-1) rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit to snap Montini's 11-game winning streak and earn a spot in the semifinals for the first time.

Bobowski also made a key fumble recovery at Montini's 27 and returned to the 3 to set up his go-ahead touchdown with 3:46 to play. And Ryan Ferguson's interception at Montini's 28 on the next series set up Bobowski's clinching touchdown with 1:37 remaining.

St. Francis' defense forced five turnovers and limited Montini to 55 yards in the second half. Quarterback Tom DiCristina was 14-for-29 for 144 yards but was intercepted three times. Ryan McDonnell's fumble recovery at Montini's 29 set up Bobowski's tying touchdown with 6:15 to play.

Coach Greg Purnell praised the play of O'Donnell, who also had an interception. "He's the quarterback of our defense," Purnell said. Other standouts were Kachmer, Jason Lombardi, Dave Sufranski and Joe Pfeiffer.

On offense, Bobowski rushed 26 times for 119 yards, Kachmer carried 15 times for 79 yards and quarterback Jeff Reckards was 8-for-14 for 114 yards, including a 20-yard TD pass to Brett Robinson.

Montini scored on DiCristina's 28-yard pass to Christian Westerkamp and his 45-yarder to Brendan Shannon. But the Broncos couldn't muster any offense in the second half as Bobowski made one big play after another.

"I knew the defense had to make a big play," Bobowski said about his fumble recovery. "It happened so fast. I saw the ball in the air. Then it was lying there and no one was around. I just scooped it up."