Abe the Leg: Abraham Montano’s journey to Fresno State

Abraham Montano did not play football until his senior year of high school. He played soccer growing up and won championships at Alisal High School in Salinas, California.

Now, Montano is the most experienced kicker on the Fresno State football team, which hopes to contend for a Mountain West championship this fall.

How did that happen?

It started with Frank Alvarado, an assistant soccer coach at Hartnell College, telling Montano he wouldn’t make it professionally as a soccer player.

“His father, he was very disappointed, because his father wanted him to play soccer,” Alvarado said. “I explained to him that [it] was the best for him to go to football because he had more chance to go for a scholarship.”

Montano played football for a year at Hartnell. He compiled his highlights from the season into a video that he sent to 300 coaches from across the country.

Only one college responded — Fresno State.

“I think [Coach] called me on Thursday,” Montano remembered. “I said yes on Friday, and I was here kicking with Cesar [Silva] and Carson [King] that same weekend. In the span of four days, I went from being at my junior college to being at a Division-I program.”

In the second game of the 2021 season, Montano filled in for injured starter Cesar Silva. In his first Division-I collegiate start, he made three of three field goal attempts against the 11th ranked team in the country, Oregon.

Although the Bulldogs lost narrowly to the Ducks that day, Montano showed a bright future in his new sport.