Football: Prep, Everett set to meet again

If not for Everett, there’s a pretty good chance that the St. John’s Prep football team might have won a pair of Division 1 Super Bowl titles this decade.Instead, the Crimson Tide have won a plethora of championships in the new century, and on Friday they will play host to the 2-0 Eagles at Everett Memorial Stadium in a battle of two of the top 10 teams in Eastern Mass.The Prep (2-0) is trying to reverse a trend of losing to Everett, having never beaten coach John DiBiaso’s team in the regular season or playoffs.”We’ve had some close ones with them, and there’s been some that were not too close,” Prep coach Jim O’Leary said. “They’re No. 1 in the state and nationally ranked for a reason.”The Eagles come in off a 28-16 win over Central Catholic last Saturday that saw them jump out to a 21-3 lead and then have to stave off a late Raider comeback.Everett, also unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the state, was in jeopardy of falling to another top 10 team in Dracut as the Crimson Tide led by just a point (21-20) at halftime. But Everett blew the Middies out in the second half en route to a 48-26 win.Any thoughts that the Crimson Tide might slump a bit with the graduation of Isaac Johnson, now a defensive back at Boston College, have been erased thanks to the play of senior J.W. Forte.Forte, who was a main key to Everett’s playoff success last season, was especially good last week against the Middies. The 5-8 senior rushed for over 150 yards and scored three times. He also recorded a pair of sacks on defense.As is usually the case, Everett has a fleet of talented backs at DiBiaso’s disposal. Alan Dancewicz, Jesus Crawford and Manny Asparina all scored touchdowns last week, while quarterback Joe Conti also scored on a sneak.”You have to go a full 44 minutes against them,” O’Leary said. “They’re relentless and keep coming at you.”The Eagles’ defense has played well this season, and O’Leary knows that Everett’s multi-dimensional; no-huddle attack will give his team a major challenge.”They haven’t won 66 regular-season games, or something like that, in a row for a reason,” O’Leary said. “You can’t take away one thing with them. And you can’t get frustrated, because that’s when it gets away against them.”The case in point of that, according to O’Leary, was the 27-6 second half put on Dracut by the Crimson Tide.”That defense is where they make their money,” O’Leary said. “They get those opportunities because they play such great defense.”The Prep isn’t without its own set of weapons, and all of them played a part in last week’s win over the Raiders.Quarterback Greg Donahue was outstanding, completing 10-of-19 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. Lynn native Brendon Felder caught that TD pass and also had a 75-yard punt return and 23-yard run for two other touchdowns.On the day, Felder caught eight passes for 140 yards and also rushed for 27 yards.”They are our go-to-guys,” O’Leary said. “We have some weapons, and they need to bring it to the next level to play on the big stage.”O’Bryant at TechAt Manning Field tonight (7), the Tigers (1-1) will try to bounce back after an 18-0 loss at Marian last week. Tech got solid efforts from Gerrad Fairwheather and Steven Caisse carrying the ball, but couldn’t survive three costly interceptions that turned the tide.Winthrop at ClassicalAt Manning Field (7), the Rams (1-1) played stellar defense last week against Beverly, holding the Panthers to 174 total yards. But three turnovers proved costly as 14 fourth-quarter points doomed the Rams.Cam Smith played well for Classical in the loss, rushing for 62 yards and a touchdown. He also caught three balls for 21 yards.Classical’s task doesn’t get any easier this week as the Rams have the task of shutting down Winthrop’s Chris Beranger. The senior running back has been spectacular in two games this season, a loss to Gloucester and last week’s 28-17 win at Auburn.In last Friday’s victory, Beranger ran for a touchdown and caught passes of 18 and 43 yards from Wil