Image courtesy of @WCVB
By Jared Keene
NEFJ Correspondent
SHREWSBURY – It’s no secret that St. John’s Prep has an abundance of offensive weapons, but Eagles coach Brian St. Pierre has all the confidence in the world in his team’s defense.
On Friday night, Prep’s defense had plenty of eyes on it in the battle of St. John’s, which, understandably, garnered plenty of attention this week as the top game in the state. St. John’s Shrewsbury had been putting up points on every opponent, including over 40 last week in a win over three-time defending D1 state champ Xaverian.
The Eagles had other ideas, however, as their defense allowed only one offensive touchdown in Prep’s dominant 43-20 Catholic Conference victory at SJS’s Pioneer Field. Prep stays unbeaten at 6-0, while the Pioneers dropped to 5-1.
“When we play defense like that, we’re going to be tough to beat,” St. Pierre said. “Our defense was lights out. Our staff does a great job. We took away their run game and made them one-dimensional. Our front seven played really well, and our defensive backs played well. They had been scoring 40+ on everyone, so a huge team effort from our defense tonight.”
In the latest Division 1 power rankings, SJS was ranked first, with Prep sitting just behind in second.
But St. Pierre played down this being a statement win with a very business-like approach.
“This wasn’t a statement game, it was just another week for us, and they were next,” he said. “But I think them being ahead of us in the power rankings caught our attention a bit. We knew it was going to be a challenge, but our kids were ready to go.”
Prep jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter on the strength of its passing game, with stud quarterback Chris Vargas tossing touchdowns of 28 and 54 yards, respectively, to Will Codreanu.
“When we start fast and get a lead, we play better,” St. Pierre said. “We did that tonight. We received the opening kick, went down, and scored.”
Vargas going to the air early and often allowed his team to get its run game going with its two primary backs—Maxwell Parent and Michael Salemi. Parent ended up rushing for three scores, with Salemi tallying another.
The Eagles took a 30-14 lead into the half and never really looked back from there.
“We hit ’em hard early with the passing game,” St. Pierre said. “Chris shredded ’em. Once we got ahead, the run game opened up and went to work. Our offensive line was awesome tonight. They did their business against a loaded front and we just ran it at ‘em anyway.”
Next up for the Eagles is another Catholic Conference tilt against Malden Catholic, but before they start thinking about that game, they’re going to take this one in.
“That was a good team victory and the next step in the journey for us,” St. Pierre said. “I like the way we handled our approach tonight. We have another tough one next week. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight and then move on to the next.”