DANVERS – St. John’s Prep football coach Brian St. Pierre said The Eagles (5-0) dressed almost 6 dozen players for Saturday’s game against St. John’s (Shrewsbury) for a Catholic Conference game. And they all played! (Not all at once, of course.) The Eagles won, 36-14 (see Salem News re-cap below). According to Coach St. Pierre, his staff plans to work this week to keep the team sharp and prepared for Saturday’s home game against Malden Catholic (4-1).
The Eagles are currently ranked number 1 in the most recent MIAA D1 Power Rankngs; MC is number 1 in D4.
St. John’s Prep football coach Brian St. Pierre
From the Salem News: St. John’s Prep football hammers Pioneers to remain unbeaten
SHREWSBURY — The St. John’s Prep football went out to Pioneer Field in central Massachusetts Saturday on a business trip — and they took care of said business early and often.
The Eagles dominated the first half, scoring five touchdowns and only allowing a single first down against (that coming with 47 seconds until intermission) in steamrolling host St. John’s of Shrewsbury, 36-14, at Pioneer Field.
Now 5-0 on the season, St. John’s Prep got three touchdown passes from freshman quarterback Chris Vargas and two scores apiece from senior captain Merrick Barlow and sophomore running back Jordan Toribio to win their Catholic Conference opener handily.
“I thought our guys came out with a sense of purpose,” said head coach Brian St. Pierre. “We wanted to start fast on both sides of the ball and we did.
“Defense was tremendous all day,” he continued. “(St. John’s Shrewsbury) had just minus-2 yards of total offense when we started subbing in just before halftime. They set the tone, and our offense was very efficient. Lots of contributions from a lot of different guys.”
Toribio caught a shovel pass from Vargas that turned into a 40-yard score for a quick 7-0 lead, then powered his way into the end zone from seven yards out before the second quarter ended. He finished with a combined 72 yards rushing and receiving.
Barlow’s first TD, grabbing a 23-yard pass from Vargas, made it 21-0 Prep after one quarter. He and fellow captain Deacon Robillard (5-for-8, 60 yards) then connected for a 29-yard score in the second quarter.
Barlow, who has 386 yards receiving on the season, has seen six of his 16 receptions wind up with him in the end zone.
Vargas (6-for-9, 90 yards) also connected with fullback Gael Garcia on a 23-yard passing play that gave the visitors a 14-0 advantage in the first quarter.
Jeff Quigley led St. John’s Prep with 70 yards rushing on nine attempts. Leo Emerson made the most of his 11 attempts, rushing for a career best 51 yards.
St. John’s Prep will return to campus this weekend for its Homecoming Game against 4-1 Malden Catholic Saturday at Glatz Field (1 p.m.).
“Big challenge this week. Very much looking forward to it,” said St. Pierre.
