By David J. Hill<br><a href="mailto:hilld@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail David</a>
North Tonawanda, NY — Even his teammates don’t know where he came from.
Junior fullback Joe Montesanti has burst onto the scene, bolstering an already unstoppable North Tonawanda rushing attack heading into today’s state quarterfinal against Section V champion Webster Schroeder. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Rochester’s Marina Auto Stadium.
Following his 107-yard, three-touchdown performance in the sectional final last weekend, Montesanti surpassed Steve Kijowski as the Lumberjacks leading rusher. He’s compiled 538 yards on the ground with 10 touchdowns while averaging nearly 9 yards per carry, and much of that productivity has come in the second half of the season.
“He’s been playing phenomenal. He shot out of a rocket,” said senior offensive lineman Casey Shreve. “I’ve seen him being more explosive and wanting to get more yards, fighting for yards, lowering his shoulder and just running like a truck.”
“It’s exciting because he gives all of the credit to us up front, because most of the time he only has one man to beat and he’s just amazing,” Shreve added. “He can juke and he can run through the guy.”
Like many of his Lumberjack teammates, Montesanti’s contributions are multi-faceted. He returned a kick 87 yards for a touchdown against Niagara Falls, and threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Darrik Bloomfield on a halfback option pass in the T-NT game.
In the Jacks semifinal victory over defending state champion Orchard Park, Montesanti led NT with 95 yards on nine carries. He scored a pair of touchdowns in the quarterfinals against Frontier.
While guys ahead of him, including seniors Kijowski and Aaron Davis, handled much of the ball carrying duties early in the season, Montesanti waited patiently for his opportunity and got it shortly after a nagging ankle injury reduced Davis’ playing time.
“I just kind of worked at it and I was able to sneak in there and have an opportunity to play,” said Montesanti, whose twin brother Dan has been a solid defensive player for the Jacks. (Their father, John, was a running back at NT who went on to become a three-year letterwinner at Penn.)
“We’ve got Tommy Sell and Devan Moultrie — those guys are great. This year, we’re so athletic. It makes things a lot nicer,” Montesanti said.
With a bevy of backs who can run the ball, there’s always the chance that Montesanti may not get as many carries, but when the play call goes to No. 8, Montesanti said he just tries to make the most of it. “You never know how many times you’re going to get the ball a game, so you’ve got to run hard every play,” he said.
As Shreve alluded to, North Tonawanda’s O-line has made it oh-so-easy for whichever tailback takes the football. While Kijowski is more of a power, up-the-middle ball carrier, Montesanti has done much of his damage getting to the outside.
“Our perimeter blocking has been outstanding the last couple weeks. Everything to the outside, it’s been easy to read. I’ve been able to pick up some good yardage outside,” Montesanti said, adding that Kyle and Casey Shreve, as well as wideout Bloomfield, have been solid blockers.
He also credited quarterback Mike Tuzzo for his decision-making on the option pitch. “You know when you get the ball you’re not going to get popped, because he made the right read,” Montesanti said.
“When he gives you the ball you know you’re going to get some good yardage if you make one or two good reads, which luckily has been happening now since our outside blocking’s good. I’m just taking the pitch and getting some easy, good yardage,” he added.
Although it may seem like he’s just come on, Montesanti’s success isn’t surprising, according to Lumberjacks coach Eric Jantzi. “He’s been good all year, he’s just getting his opportunity now,” Jantzi said.
“It’s been nice this year having a stable full of backs. It gives you a lot of options.”
Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.
