O’Brien: Star-stacked Montini routs Fenwick

Prince Walker’s 62-yard touchdown run against Fenwick on Saturday at Morton West wasn’t about yardage or points. Montini had the game well in hand at that point and the yardage amount does absolutely no justice to the stunning play the junior running back ripped off.

“It was wild,” Montini quarterback Justin Blake said. “I was running down field after him and there was just one guy after another on the ground, he had broken all of their tackles.”

The No. 5 Broncos are a complete team, clearly one of the area’s best regardless of class. Blake and Walker are both stars, players with that extra something that makes Montini (8-0, 3-0 Catholic League Green) a team that could very likely be holding a state championship trophy in late November.

Comparisons based on scores are inevitable in high school football. The short regular season schedule in which the top teams almost never face one another guarantees that. So Saturday’s score sort of means something. Montini beat Fenwick 48-7. That’s a more impressive number than Loyola’s 54-16 win in Week 4.

The Catholic League coaches are very good about not running up the score on one another. It’s an admirable sight in area high school sports. Once the 40-point running clock kicks in the winning team pulls off the gas. Even so, the Fenwick result may prove that the Broncos are just as good as the three teams considered to be the area’s elite: Homewood-Flossmoor, Loyola and Glenbard West.

“We aren’t going to worry about that really,” Walker said. “We’re just going to play our own game and try to be the best team we can.”

Walker rushed 10 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns. He caught five passes for 65 yards. The junior has seen his recruitment explode this season.

“I think I’ve improved a lot on my pass blocking and run blocking this year,” Walker said. “I just visited Iowa last weekend, Indiana a couple weeks back. I’m going to NIU next weekend. That might be it for awhile.”

This is Blake’s first season playing quarterback. He became an instant star in Week 1 after orchestrating a 20-17 win over Maine South. Early in the season Blake was doing most of his damage on the ground. That has changed.

Blake was 14-for-22 passing for 169 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed six times for 78 yards and a touchdown.

“I’ve progressed a lot with my passing,” Blake said. “I’ve always been able to run and always been able to make the easy passes and make the nice reads but now I’m better at seeing defenses and knowing what they are going to do and pre-read everything. My pre-snap decisions have been real good the past few weeks. I owe that to the coaches and the film sessions.”

Colleges have noticed Blake’s maturation.

“I have offers from Toledeo, Western Michigan, Western Illinois, Illinois State, Eastern Illinois and NIU. I’ve started getting calls every other day from Wyoming. I’m gonna sit down and see where everyone is coming from after the season. And I’m hoping for a few more offers.”

Fenwick (3-5, 4-2) is a competent team, it just lacks the game-breaking stars that Montini features. The Friars marched down the field for a touchdown on their opening drive behind junior quarterback Jacob Keller, who was 16-for-30 for 171 yards and two interceptions, but the Broncos responded with 48 unanswered points.