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Football: Montini rallies late to defeat Kaneland
Mary Beth Nolan~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 19, 2011 9:33PM
By seeding alone, it was an upset.
But top-seeded Kaneland was the team with something to prove during Saturday night’s Class 5A playoff semifinal battle with defending champion No. 6 Montini.
The Knights gave the Broncos all they could handle and then some, but receiver Jordan Westerkamp’s 19-yard touchdown reception from quarterback John Rhode with 2:03 remaining gave Montini a 35-31 road victory and another trip to the state finals.
“This was a terrific show of heart from our team to come back the way we did,” Broncos coach Chris Andriano said. “It didn’t look good for a while. They really outplayed us. They did a great job during a lot of phases of the game and had a great gameplan.”
Montini (11-2) opened the scoring with a 15-play second drive, capped by Joe Borsellino’s one-yard run.
But Kaneland sophomore running back Jesse Balluff broke an 81-yard touchdown run 20 seconds later, which woke up his team.
“It was a big lift to answer a team like that with something like that,” Knights coach Tom Fedderly said. “Jesse, man, I can’t wait to see him the next two years.”
Balluff carried 12 times for 143 yards and also scored on a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter to answer Montini halfback Dimitri Taylor’s 48-yard touchdown scamper.
“That (long) touchdown gave them life and sent us back on our heels,” Andriano said. “They got into a better rhythm offensively, which we were having a hard time getting them out of. They had us figured out and I don’t think we ever really did stop them.”
Matt Rodriguez kicked a 26-yard field goal late in the second half for the Knights (12-1).
The Broncos opened the second half 3-and-out and Kaneland quarterback Drew David led a quick four-play drive that ended in an 18-yard touchdown to Zach Martinelli, a 10-point cushion and the start to a furious tradeoff of points.
Borsellino finished a Broncos’ drive with a two-yard run; David’s four-yard keeper climaxed an 11-play drive; Taylor ripped of a 31-yard touchdown run.
Finally, Montini got a stop and the Nebraska-bound Westerkamp, who’d been double and triple teamed all night and held without a catch until the fourth quarter, was able to make a play when it counted.
Kaneland’s final drive stalled at midfield and one minute remaining.
“What a great offense that was,” Fedderly said. “It all came down to their big-time player making a big-time play. That’s what we wanted it to come down to, being in it in the fourth quarter. We just didn’t pull this one off.”
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