Brett Pickering’s last-minute TD pass, stellar ‘D’ deliver Montini a dramatic first win against Notre Dame

LOMBARD – Brett Pickering did not expect to get much playing time this spring season, and perhaps not get into Thursday’s game in particular.

Injuries have necessitated that Pickering, the third of Montini’s sophomore quarterbacks, be thrust into action. He’s not even fully healthy himself, dealing with a hip pointer. Pickering took a huge hit in his first series of relief against Notre Dame on Thursday.

But he stood tall when it mattered.

Pickering’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Mario Florio with 44.6 seconds left gave the Broncos a dramatic 7-0 win over Notre Dame in a matchup of previously winless teams in the CCL/ESCC Green.

Pickering, 9-for-13 for 137 yards in relief of Cole Teschner, who left the game late in the first half with a leg injury and returned for just one series in the second half, directed an eight-play, 84-yard game-winning drive. It started with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter and the two teams seemingly headed to overtime in a game dominated by the defenses.

Pickering was 3-for-5 on the drive with completions to Trey Barrett, Mingo Nixon and Florio, the touchdown on a deep post.

“We knew we needed a score,” Pickering said. “I knew I had my coaches by my side, my teammates by my side and my sideline by my side. With them we were able to make it happen. We didn’t want to go to overtime. We wanted to score.”

Montini (1-2, 1-1), which avoided its first 0-3 start since 2002, and Notre Dame (0-3, 0-2) both came in facing the unusual position given the stature of their respective programs of being winless through two weeks – and the similarities didn’t end there.

Montini lost starting quarterback Tre Jones to a finger injury in the last week, and Teschner hurt his leg running for a first down late in the first half. Notre Dame, likewise, has played three quarterbacks in a revolving door behind center with multi-sport standout Anthony Sayles not playing football this spring. Notre Dame sophomore Vincenzo Ricciardi was 14-for-31 for 126 yards Thursday.

“We think we have three good quarterbacks and at the end of the game we barely have one that can stand on one leg,” Montini coach Mike Bukovsky said. “But we had to do what we had to do, and kudos to Brett. You deal with it as it comes. One thing I’ll say about those guys is they all support each other and the team flows off of them.”

The two teams combined for six turnovers in the first half – Montini had four of them – and traded 10 punts in the second half. Three of the turnovers came in the first four plays of the second quarter, both offenses stuck in neutral.

The Broncos’ defense, a week removed from giving up 51 points to St. Rita, on three occasions turned away Notre Dame on fourth down inside Montini territory in the first half. The third time was on a fourth-and-goal situation inside the 5.

“Our defense did a great job,” Bukovsky said. “I’ve been around here 31 years coaching and that’s one of the best efforts we have had against a physical team.”

Montini senior Jalen McBride was at the center of those heroics defensively, and at one point its struggles to hold on to the ball. McBride made a big hit on an early fourth down play, intercepted two passes, and made a spectacular 42-yard over the shoulder catch from Pickering.

And he nearly had a touchdown in the first half. The first play after Montini turned away Notre Dame at the goal line, McBride caught a pass from Teschner for a length of the field catch-and-run. But he had the ball poked away as he neared the goal line, and Notre Dame recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touch back.

“I got to give all thanks to my guys,” said McBride, a Valparaiso recruit. “We played with energy tonight and I just fed off of them. We had one heck of a game. We had several first-half turnovers but we just stuck together. We knew it was going be a dogfight.”

Montini had a 22-yard TD run by DiAndre Harris called back on a holding penalty earlier in the fourth quarter, and a low snap on an ensuing field goal attempt with 3:32 left – setting the stage for the Broncos’ improbable final drive.

“I told the guys all week we just got to get a win any old way we can,” Bukovsky said, “and we did get it any old way we could.”