‘He’s everything a program wants in a kid’ Fun-loving and fiery, Demond Butcher anchors Montini defensive line

LOMBARD – Demond Butcher has distinguished himself in many ways over four years at Montini.

A gregarious, fun-loving personality, Butcher is an emotional leader on the line for the Broncos. He is the strongest kid in the Montini football program.

And he sings, too.

Yes, it’s true.

Butcher, a 6-foot-1, 265-pound terror to opposing quarterbacks joined the Montini chamber choir for two years – and loved every minute of it.

“It was actually between choir and art. I used to do choir when I was little and I was like ‘I’m going to take a shot at it,’” Butcher said. “I’m not going to lie, it was probably the best two years I’ve ever had.”

To Montini coach Mike Bukovsky, Butcher represents the best in his program.

He’s been a coach’s dream since coming to the Lombard school from Hillside. A high-motor player on the field, Butcher is a well-respected young man around the school. Intense between the lines, Butcher has a great sense of humor off of it, is able to laugh at himself and a role model to those who come after him. He first answers every question with a “yes sir” or a “no sir.”

“He’s just a great, great kid,” Bukovsky said. “An awesome leader.”

Butcher this week will lead Montini in a monumental task, as the Broncos welcome defending Class 7A state champion Mount Carmel to Lombard. Butcher welcomes the opportunity.

“Mount Carmel is a very tough team, they’ve been a good program for a long time,” Butcher said. “We have a lot of seniors who are stepping up and a lot of young guys who are looking pretty ready for this matchup.”

Butcher has come a long way to get where he’s at.

He said he inherited some of his strength from good genes, his dad, but there was also hard work in the weight room. Butcher had an injury setback when he first arrived at Montini, a torn labrum in his shoulder that cost him his entire freshman season.

He’s returned to become a three-year starter on the Montini defensive line. Butcher is one of Montini’s best offensive linemen, too, but Bukovsky tries to limit his minutes on that side to not run him into the ground.

“By D1 standards he’s a little undersized, but he’s the strongest kid on the team,” Bukovsky said. “He has a 500 squat, 385-pound bench, 275-pound clean, he just does everything.”

Butcher accepted a preferred walk-on spot with Eastern Illinois in January, but Bukovsky believes many bigger schools are missing the boat. The lack of summer camps because of the coronavirus pandemic cost Butcher exposure as it did many other players.

Bukovsky calls Butcher another Joe Spivak, as big a compliment as it can get around Montini. Spivak was an All-State defensive tackle at Montini who walked on at Northwestern.

“I call Demond a D1 player caught in a D2 body,” Bukovsky said. “Like the way I used to talk to coaches about Joe Spivak, if you take this kid in your program I’ll buy you dinner for a year. He’s everything a program wants in a kid, he just doesn’t have the prototype Division I frame. He has the heart, he has the work ethic, he has the attitude. He’s just a baller.”

Butcher understands well what it means to be mentioned in the same breath as Spivak. Like Spivak, Butcher is an emotional type on the field always ready to fire up his teammates and get everybody on the same page.

“When I hear that name I think of a powerful, crazy, energetic guy, Joe Spivak,” Butcher said. “I actually studied his film and watched how he played. He was such an aggressive, disciplined player. He’s the definition of a Montini football player.”

Bukovsky said that Butcher is the poster child for the lost opportunities high school athletes have had on the recruiting trail because of the pandemic, but Butcher doesn’t complain.

He just loves to play the game.

“This kid is a player; you can’t measure what he’s been worth to our program,” Bukovsky said “He’s one of those guys who’s fallen through the cracks. Someone is getting a steal.”