By Mukala Kabongo
NEFJ Staff
LAWRENCE – St. John’s Prep scored 24 unanswered points after falling behind 7-0 against rival Central Catholic Friday evening and held off a late rally by the Red Raiders to move to 3-0 on the season after a 31-24 victory.
The game began with Central Catholic marching down the field on the opening drive with a seven-play 87 yard drive that was capped off with a 44-yard touchdown run by junior running back Caden Chase.
St. John’s Prep responded on the very next possession, freshman quarterback Chris Vargas marched his team down the field on a six play drive going 3/4 for 40 yards with an eight yard touchdown pass to tight end Josh Haarmann.
“I thought the offensive response to go down the field to score and take back momentum for us was huge,” said head coach Brian St. Pierre.
The defense for the Eagles would respond after giving up a touchdown on the opening drive by forcing a turnover on downs followed by a turnover.
“We had a couple blow assignments defensively,’ said St. Pierre. “We just needed to calm down.”
The Eagles began to control the line of scrimmage with their run game using multiple backs to wear out the Red Raiders front. Sophomore running back Jordan Toribio’s 36 yard touchdown run gave the Eagles a 17-7 lead with 3:28 remaining until the half.
Toribio would score again from two yards out after the Eagles defense forced a turnover that gave them the 24-7 lead at halftime.
“They’re very skilled and very well coached,” said Central Catholic head coach John Sexton.
Coach Sexton’s team did not go away quietly. The Red Raiders cut the lead to 24-17 after Jefferson Morales punched it in from one yard out.
“The kids played hard in the second half,” added Sexton. “They made one more play than us.”
Vargas and the Eagles responded once again after sophomore Dayvian Sullivan gave them great field position on the kickoff. Two plays later Vargas found his favorite target Merrick Barlow for a 40-yard touchdown pass that made it 31-17.
“That was a huge response to get it back to a two score game,” St. Pierre said.
That’s three games in a row Vargas has thrown two touchdown passes and his fourth of the season to Barlow. The Eagles offense continued to put up points scoring over 30 points for the third straight game.
Central Catholic made one last effort with an 80-yard drive that began with Caden Smith completing a pass to himself and ended with a 14-yard touchdown run by Smith. St. John’s Prep recovered the onside kick to put the game away.
“3-0 is where you want to be,” added St. Pierre. “It’s early in the season, we’re getting closer to October now and we’re hoping to get this train rolling.”