Villanova Univeristy Athletics

CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS

2021 SEASON

Jess Neely Defensive Award

Villanova: Transfer from Rice who played in 38 career games and had 201 tackles (81 solo, 120 assisted) for the Owls … His career stats included 15.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception, five pass breakups, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble … Four-time selection to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and was a Rice Honor Athlete in 2021.
 
2021 (Rice): Winner of the Jess Neely Defensive Award … Led the team with a career-high nine tackles for loss on the year, including two games with two TFL … Credited with six tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and the first forced fumble of his career at Charlotte … Recovered a fumble on the first defensive play of the game at UAB … Opened the season with back-to-back double-figure tackle totals … Matched his career high with 11 tackles in the season opener.
 
2020 (Rice): Fifth on the team with 24 tackles in four games played … Reached double figures in tackles for the fourth time in his career when he had 10 total stops at Southern Miss.
 
2019 (Rice): Ranked second on the team with 83 tackles, including five tackles for loss and a sack … Had three pass breakups and one forced fumble on the year … Posted 11 tackles at Army West Point in the season opener and later matched that total against both Marshall and UTEP … Tied for the team lead with three double-digit tackle games … Made a PAT against Texas and was the first position player at the FBS level to score a PAT since 2016.
 
2018 (Rice): Started seven of the last nine games of the season as a true freshman … Had 34 tackles on the year, including a season-high seven stops against UTEP … Had an interception against Old Dominion … Credited with four tackles against UTSA and had three total stops at Southern Miss.
 
Eden Prairie High School: As a senior was named Minnesota Mr. Football, the Metro Player of the Year, an all-state honoree and the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year while leading his team to an undefeated season and a state title … Credited with 118 tackles, including 13 tackles for loss, two interceptions and three forced fumbles on defense while rushing for 24 touchdowns offensively his senior season … Concluded his scholastic career with 235 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and three interceptions … As a junior and senior also handled kicking duties and was 102-of-111 on PATs in addition to making 9-of-11 field goals with a long attempt of 47 yards … AP Honor Student, Hispanic Scholar and a member of the Environmentalist Club.
 
Personal: Born October 18 … One of two sons of Luis and Carrie Montero … Father played collegiate soccer in Spain at the University of Salamanca … Majored in Sport Management at Rice.