Driscoll and Montini entered Saturday’s battle for Suburban Catholic Conference supremacy without a loss and averaging more than 40 points per game.
The deciding factor in Driscoll’s hard-fought 13-7 title-clinching victory, however, was a stifling defense fueled by an overflow crowd in Addison.
“Their defense came out and hit us so hard, we didn’t know where it was coming from,” said Montini junior quarterback Tom DiCristina, who managed only 42 yards on 11-for-24 passing. “They were just right on top of us.”
Both teams’ offenses were affected by how each performed either going against or with a stiff wind.
Montini (8-1, 6-1) used a short field to strike first, driving 44 yards on its first possession with a 10-yard DiCristina-to-Dex Jones connection that gave the Broncos a 7-0 lead.
The six-time defending state champion Highlanders (9-0, 7-0) answered on the next drive as David Schwabe (16-for-29 for 157 yards and 17 carries for 67 yards) connected with Joey Calabrese for a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. They took the lead for good on the last play of the first half on Brett Warren’s 37-yard field goal.
Montini had the wind in the third quarter but was blanked on three possessions, two of which started well inside Driscoll territory after short punts. The first stalled at the Highlanders’ 14, and the second came up empty when Sean Cahill missed a 38-yard field goal.
Warren stretched the lead to 13-7 with 6:21 remaining with a 36-yard field goal and had the chance to put his squad up by two scores inside of two minutes, but he was wide left on a 24-yard try.
“We knew that it would probably come down to field goals, and I was hoping I could make a difference,” Warren said. “I just tried to keep my cool.”
After Warren’s late miss, Driscoll’s defense, which held the Broncos to 122 total yards, made one last stand featuring the same mind-set it flashed throughout.
“Just have an attitude and keep hitting them,” Driscoll linebacker Kevin Palermo said. “No one had really come after them like this.”
