Progress Report: Montini looks strong up front, has talented sophomore QB to watch

Montini coach Mike Bukovsky saw the makings of a great team in the weight room last winter.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause to the day-to-day progress in the spring, but the last several weeks of outside conditioning work has shown encouraging signs from where the Broncos left off.

"Some of our guys actually were better; they looked better," Bukovsky said. "They found ways to do what they needed to do. So, I think that's going to be a great situation for us."

The IHSA unveiled Phase Four of its Return to Play guidelines last week. A few days later, it released the fall football schedule. While it's uncertain what, if any, of a regular season may look like, Bukovsky keeps Montini's approach within reason.

The Broncos are coming off an 8-3 season that culminated with a 16-13 overtime loss to Sycamore in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

"I tell our guys we can only control every day what we can control," Bukovsky said. "We can't get wrapped up in what's going to happen and what's not going to happen. I tell the guys this: 'If we've got a game next week, are you ready?'"

"That's all we can say," Bukovsky said. "Right now, we're as ready as we can be. With what we've been allowed to do, I think our guys are as ready as they can be right now. [We] just have to keep pushing that forward."

Head Coach: Mike Bukovsky (fourth season)

Last Year's Record 8-3

Biggest Question

How will Montini re-tool its offense after the graduations of quarterback Deontay Bell and wide receiver Nate Muersch?

Bell was the CCL/ESCC Green Division Offensive Player of the Year after a stellar senior season. A Class 5A All-State selection, Bell threw for 1,417 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for 1,038 rushing yards and nine TDs.

Muersch, now at Miami (Ohio), was a big-play threat for the Broncos last year with 40 catches for 770 yards and 11 TDs.

Those are two massive holes to fill, and while sophomore quarterback Tre Jones is certainly garnering preseason hype, how quickly he can get the offense going once the season begins will be interesting to watch develop.

Players to Watch

Jones, who received a scholarship offer from Arizona State earlier this month, appears poised for a breakout campaign.

Jones, started on the JV team last year, received a handful of quarterback snaps on the varsity level. The varsity last year had three senior quarterbacks, led by Bell. This season will be Jones' chance to solidify himself as a leader on offense.

"The most important thing to understand about Tre is he looks a whole lot different today than he did last year at this time," Bukovsky said. "He's grown quite a bit physically; matured quite a bit physically. He's gotten much, much stronger...the sky is the limit with him. We are very, very excited about the direction that we can go offensively now."

The Broncos' most notable returning starter is senior running back/defensive back DiAndre Harris.

"Obviously, the No. 1 guy we're returning offensively is going to be DiAndre Harris," Bukovsky said. "DiAndre was kind of an all-everything for us last year. He scored touchdowns by running the ball. He scored touchdowns catching the ball. Obviously, he plays big minutes for us defensively...he's a bonafide player that we're going to rely on heavily."

Up front, senior Colin Baker returns for his third year starting at offensive guard. He leads a number of key returners on the line, joining Dagen Miller and Brett Kuczynski.

"He looks fantastic," Bukovsky said of Baker. "He's about 255 [pounds] now...he's been a wrestler for a couple years. He's committed to wrestling heavyweight now so he put weight on in the offseason."

Newcomers You Need to Know

Juniors Jackson McWhinney and Michael Carver are two newcomers that figure into Montini's plans at linebacker.

Schedule Analysis

While Montini awaits official word on a Week 2 opponent, it's hard to find a more impressive opening game than what the Broncos have in hosting Batavia Aug. 28. The Bulldogs, state champions in 2013 and 2017 and a Class 7A quarterfinalist last season, feature a lethal running game that averaged 219 yards last year, and a defense that allowed allowed 15.4 points per game in 2019. Northern Illinois recruit Trey Urwiler, a wide receiver, and Arizona commit Matt Weerts at linebacker are Batavia's headliners.

Bukovsky and Batavia coach Dennis Piron know each other from their college days at North Central College, adding another fun layer to the mix.

In Week 3 reigning Class 7A state champion Mount Carmel pays a visit to Montini before the Broncos dive into conference play.

Montini, Niles Notre Dame and St. Rita each went 2-1 in CCL/ESCC Green play in 2019.

"The schedule is daunting; there's no doubt about it," Bukovsky said. "We're very aware of that. We love playing those big-time teams, and we just hope we're going to be able to, at this time, have the atmosphere we thought we were going to have when we scheduled that Batavia game."

Early Take

Montini certainly has solid building blocks returning from last season's team that made it to the second round of the playoffs. With at least three returning offensive linemen and Harris back in an all-purpose role, the offensive growth should be steady as Jones gets his chance on varsity.

Defensively, the graduations of linebacker Trevor Swier and lineman Jeremiah Banks-Wall are notable, but the Broncos will be difficult to stop up front with Demond Butcher (265-pounds), Sonny Ortiz (185-pounds) and Vinicio McPhee (275-pounds) clogging running lanes.

"We feel our defensive line is really going to be a big advantage and a big part of our defense," Bukovsky said. "...We've got those three guys back; it's going to be very hard for teams to establish things from that point of view."

The inexperience at linebacker is an early question mark with Swier and Brandon Liston graduating, but Bukovsky touts the overall athleticism of his defense as a strength moving forward.

"We've got several starters back on both sides of the ball, but for whatever reason, we're just not, I don't know, we're not the glamorous pick; we're not the glamorous team," Bukovsky said. "Maybe it was because of some of the guys that left last year, but we're OK with that because I think, right now, we've got some great, great younger kids."