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Montelongo Dominated Competition

By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

DADE CITY - He was the player everyone on the opposing team looked for as soon as they got off the bus on game night.

Pasco boys soccer coach Barry Grayling can't remember how many times he was asked where No. 7 - Jose "Joe" Montelongo - was during the forward's stellar four-year career. Most of the time, he wasn't too hard to find.

A senior both looking and playing like a man among boys, Montelongo dominated the competition on a nightly basis. He led Pasco deeper into this year's state playoffs than any other county team, and scored a county-high 48 goals this season en route to shattering the career county scoring record. His accomplishments earned him Tampa Tribune Pasco County Athlete of the Year honors in boys soccer for a second time. He also took the honor as a sophomore.

Because Montelongo has always had a knack for scoring, he's played almost all his minutes up top, but Grayling believes Montelongo hasn't gotten the credit he deserves as a complete player.

"He's very versatile ... because he can read the game, he understands the game, he can kick with both feet and he's got the ball skills," Grayling said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he could play goalkeeper, even though I haven't seen it. But he is an out-and-out striker."

His 143 career goals soundly eclipsed the old mark of 127 set by Gulf's Novica Maric, and he also broke his own single-season school scoring record this season. It is unlikely that a player will come around and obliterate those numbers like Montelongo did to his predecessor's.

"Not anytime soon," Montelongo said, "probably way down the road."

He went to the state playoffs all four years, winning at least one regional game each year, including a victory at Harmony this past season. In the previous three years, Pasco amassed a 65-8-5 record, and was eliminated by an opponent that either won the state title or finished runner-up.

If anything has dogged Montelongo over the years, it has been his older-looking appearance. He has sported a goatee since his freshman year, fueling the speculation that he's much older than his age (now 19). Teammates and opponents have guessed that he's as old as 30, and Grayling was once asked to show Montelongo's birth certificate before a match. The truth is that he plays a game that's more mature than his years.

Now Montelongo is preparing for graduation and a pending college soccer career at Saint Leo, where he has signed a letter-of-intent. He showed little interest in other schools because of his desire to stay close to home.

"I haven't really been thinking about what I did," Montelongo said of his prep career. "I'm more focused about what I have ahead."

BOYS SOCCER FIRST TEAM

Jose "Joe" Montelongo, Pasco

Scotty Combs, Hudson

Brad Chapman, Mitchell

Taylor Lamphier, Hudson

Matt Tanner, Land O' Lakes

John Gorman, Land O' Lakes

Ryan Lowery, Pasco

Franco Otiniano, Mitchell

Dominic Cutrofello, Land O' Lakes

Frank Villar, Land O' Lakes