It just was not to be. In the midst of an up and down season, St. John’s Prep headed into the matchup against conference foe Boston College High School with a shot at putting itself in the driver’s seat for the Catholic Conference title. As it turns out, the visiting Eagles played as their undefeated record would suggest, and beat the hosting Eagles at Cronin Memorial Stadium, 24-0.St. John’s did have chances to score, but was ultimately done in by poor execution and bad timing. In the first half, the Prep (5-5) recovered a BC fumble and got into great field position using the pass. The chance to take a lead in the scoreless game ended with a sack for a loss of 16 yards, a punt, and then BC captain Tom Duffy taking his only carry of the game 62 yards for a touchdown. Three successive plays in favor of BC (10-0) gave the Eagles the 7-0 lead.After completing his first seven passes, Prep quarterback Scott Darby then met with bad luck and a fast defense. On his next seven dropbacks, Darby had four balls fall incomplete and one pass dropped on the two-yard line (which could have helped the Eagles get back into the game, down 14-0 at that point), and was sacked for a loss of 11 just before the end of the half. When BC took a knee to end the half, it had run nearly half as many plays as the host (16 compared to 28) and found the end zone twice as many times.”We did have our chances and we didn’t make the most of them; we had some dropped balls, some penalties, the kind of stuff that has killed us all year long,” said St. John’s coach Jim O’Leary. “You just can’t do that against good teams like we did today.”St. John’s again had chances to get back into the game in the second half. As with its first possession of the first half, the second half opened up with BC coughing up the ball. What is classified in the box score as a fumble was really a brilliant play from Mark Hefford, who tore the ball from the arms of the ball carrier as both fell to the ground under a pile of BC blockers and Prep tacklers.The Prep’s opportunity soon vanished when penalties, stuffed runs, and a sack forced the Eagles to punt on a fourth-and-29 from their own 42.”They got us into long situations, knew we were going to have to throw the ball, and they kept on the pressure,” said O’Leary. “They knew we were going to throw the ball and they were teeing off on us. It’s a little easier to throw the ball when you have the threat of the run.”When BC received the punt, there was 4:13 remaining in the third quarter. When St. John’s got the ball back, BC had put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive, which culminated in a two-yard Mitch McClune touchdown with 8:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. BC led 21-0, and put St. John’s into passing mode.”They just bled us in the third quarter. They just pounded the field, used the time away from the clock, and that is what happens,” said O’Leary. “They are very good and they executed.”St. John’s could not get anything going offensively, as the running game was reduced by the big and fast BC defense to nearly nothing (St. John’s finished with a total of 22 yards rushing on 24 carries), and forced Darby into incomplete passes when he was forced to scramble from a rabid pass rush.BC’s last possession of the game was a simple six-play drive, which ate four minutes off the clock and finished with Conor Flaherty kicking a 21-yard field goal.