LAWRENCE — For the first time in program history the St. John’s Prep football team is heading to its second consecutive Division 1 Super Bowl. The Eagles earned the Division 1 North championship with a 14-0 win at Central Catholic Saturday- and they did so with old-school football.
The passing game wasn’t there for the Eagles but their offensive line excelled in the run game. Running backs James Guy Jr. of Lynn and Pat Nistl combined to carry the ball 41 times for 185 yards and one touchdown (Nistl), while the perfect day by the defense made it easy to stick to the ground.
“We wanted to hit them early,” Prep coach Brian St. Pierre said. “We had guys open early, (but quarterback) Matt Crowley just had an uncharacteristic day for himself. It wasn’t working and it just kind of became a slugfest. The defense was playing so well we just wanted to kind of grind it, keep the ball on our side and wear on them. We called the same play 30-plus times. That’s what the game needed and that’s what we gave it.”
The Eagles wore the Raiders down throughout the first half. After an early missed field goal by Central Catholic both teams combined on the next 10 offensive drives for seven punts and three turnovers.
It was a true defensive battle where the Eagles held Central Catholic quarterbacks Ayden Pereira and Michael Finneran to a combined 3-of-22 passing for 20 yard on the day. That started with the pressure up front.
“It was a typical day for the whole defensive line,” St. Pierre said. “I thought Cooper Smith and Mason Davis going both ways at defensive tackle helped us a lot. Anthony Fagan (defensive end), I dragged him off the field a couple times just because he was cramping up. I don’t know how that happens on a 30-degree day but he found a way to do it. He was playing every play and played really well.”
The Eagles finally found the end zone late in the second quarter. A short Raiders’ punt set St. John’s up with a short field and Nistl found the end zone on a 5-yard run to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead (Liam Fabbri PAT).
The defense continued to dominate in the second half, and so did the offensive line. With fourth-and-inches at the Central Catholic 3, St. John’s could have kicked a field goal but Crowley followed his offensive line all the way to the end zone on a 3-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown to give the Prep a 14-0 lead.
“I trusted my eyes and what I saw,” St. Pierre said of the play. “They couldn’t match up with us up front. We were stronger, bigger and tougher. We had no doubt. I had told my coaches before that we were just going to run the ball four times. They didn’t really have an answer.”
The defense did the rest and the Eagles held on to win their second consecutive sectional title.
Since there are no Central or Western Mass. Division 1 teams, Saturday’s win advances St. John’s to the Division 1 Super Bowl where it will have a rematch with last year’s runner-up and South champion, Catholic Memorial Saturday, Dec. 7 (TBA).
“I think my guys have thought about it,” St. Pierre said of playing Catholic Memorial, which defeated the Eagles earlier this season in a Catholic Conference game. “They’re a super-talented team. We have our hands full. We know the challenge but we’re excited to be back. No other St. John’s team has gone to back-to-back super bowl appearances so we made history there.”
But for now the Eagles aren’t looking past, Thanksgiving day when they rival host Xaverian (10:15) at Fred Glatz Field.
