DANVERS — St. John’s Prep coach Brian St. Pierre stated that if you play Catholic Memorial, you discover out simply how good you might be within the trenches.
On Saturday, St. Pierre needed to like the reply he acquired on that.
St. John’s Prep ran the ball properly and stopped the run in a 19-8 victory over Catholic Memorial in a gentle downpour.
This was the primary loss by the Knights (4-2) to a Massachusetts staff since a defeat to the Prep (7-0) within the 2019 D1 state title recreation at Gillette.
“I thought our lines, both sides of the ball, dominated the game,” St. Pierre stated. “Against that group, against the size they have, the injuries. We started a freshman right guard today: Cayden Blanchette. He just turned 14 this summer, I think. Proud of our guys, that’s all I can say. Our lines won the day. I believe, the coaching staff, we believe in the trenches and winning up front … I thought we won the trenches on both sides.”
It was an correct evaluation. The Prep rushed for 306 yards. The main floor gainers had been working again Cam LaGrassa, who had 254 yards and a landing on 25 carries, and Wildcat quarterback Jimmy Nardone, who rushed for 41 yards.
All this whereas Prep misplaced high again Dylan Aliberti to a leg damage within the first quarter.
Catholic Memorial was restricted to lower than 50 yards speeding, and by no means received something constant occurring offense, though quarterback Peter Bourque handed for 202 yards, most of which got here within the second half with the Knights enjoying from behind.
“This game proves a lot,” LaGrassa stated. “We were working really hard all week throughout practice. A lot of people think that we weren’t really capable of doing what we did, so it was to build on that reputation.”
After a scoreless first half, Prep took over within the third quarter. LaGrassa rushed for a 43-yard acquire to begin, which helped arrange Deacon Robillard’s 31-yard landing go to Merrick Barlow on a ball that regarded tipped. Nardone added the two-point rush on the conversion, and Prep led, 8-0, with 8:25 to go within the third.
CM punted on its subsequent possession, and Prep confronted a 3rd and seven from its personal 25-yard line. LaGrassa took the handoff, and went proper up the center untouched for a 75-yard landing. Nardone ran it in once more and the Prep held a 16-0 lead with 4:55 left within the quarter.
The Knights battled again, as Bourque hit Isaiah Faublas for an 80-yard landing over the center. Another Bourque go, this time to Michael Hegarty, earned the 2 factors, and CM trailed simply 16-8.
CM’s DJ Overall fell on a Prep fumble early within the fourth quarter, however close to midfield, the Knights turned it over on downs.
The Eagles sealed it with a 21-yard discipline objective from Langdon Laws to finish the scoring with lower than two minutes to go.
“When you get turnovers in a game like this, we didn’t have any,” CM coach John DiBiaso stated. “They had four. We didn’t take advantage. We did not take advantage of the opportunities. But, hey, they have a great team. They played hard. Brian’s a very good coach. They’re well prepared. We had trouble stopping their run.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com