St. John’s Prep coach Jim O’Leary makes no excuses when it comes to the annual daunting schedule his team plays.On one hand, it’s necessary. Like fellow Catholic Conference powerhouses Xaverian and B.C. High, many teams in Eastern Massachusetts don’t want to play The Prep. That leaves the elite teams, all of which have established regular-season rivalries.It’ll be the same this year. Only this time, many of The Prep’s games will be at Alumni Stadium, and not on the road. The Eagles won’t have to travel to Brockton, or to Dorchester (BC High), or to Westwood ? or to Everett. All four of those teams will be visiting Danvers this fall.Not that it matters much to O’Leary. Wherever those teams play, the result is usually the same ? a hard-hitting, fiercely competitive game.”I’d say if there’s anything we have to work on, it’s our inexperience on offense, and how quickly we can compare for our schedule,” O’Leary said. “We’re up against time.”The Eagles are also up against two road games to open the season – at Peabody in Week 1; and at Central Catholic on a Thursday night following the Peabody game.”That’s just a case of field availability,” O’Leary said. “They share the field with Lawrence.”That’s always a tough place for us to play,” he said. “The story for us is our schedule. We’re always ranked – in all those Eastern Mass. websites – as having the toughest schedule.”But,” he said, “that’s the schedule we play. And it doesn’t matter whether we’re young, inexperienced, or whatever.”O’Leary likes his defense – particularly up front. Returning starters Alex Durocher (5-11, 236, defensive end) Andrew Dieselman (6-2, 249) defensive tackle), James Fahey (6-1, 191, defensive end) and junior Ryan Delisle (6-4, 230), and junior defensive end Dan Culkeen should give the Eagles plenty of bulk and strength to stop the run and rush the passer.There’s also some experience at linebacker with Mike Connor (5-11, 185) and Mike Dantona (6-1, 208), both seniors; and at defensive back, with Kevin Davis (6-3, 175), a free safety and quarterback Chris Coady, who doubles as a strong safety.”Right now,” he said, “we’re a little more two-way than I’d like at this stage of the season. But we lost a lot of offensive linemen (including Item All-Star Andrew Valeri), and those are the ones we have to replace.”Offensively, Coady looks to be getting the nod at quarterback, as junior Pat Connaughton chose not to play, preferring instead of focus on baseball.”When you have an arm like he does and can throw the ball over 90 miles per hour ? I understand that,” O’Leary said.O’Leary is also working without the services of Lynner Brandon Felder, who would have been a junior (he moved to Pittsburgh last winter). But that doesn’t mean he’s totally without offensive weapons. He’ll be relying a lot on senior George Sessoms, who ran so well last year in the team’s win over Everett.There’s also running back Tyler Coppola, a 5-9, 169-pound junior who – thus far – has been sidelined with mononucleosis.Senior Kevin Davis looks to be playing wide receiver, with both Fahey and Delisle as tight ends.Other players to watch include Mike Uva (cornerback, senior), who “worked out very hard to improve his game.”We’re pleased with him,” O’Leary said, adding he hopes Uva picks up some of the slack left by Felder.Also on O’Leary’s radar are Matt LaRovere of Lynnfield (5-11, 231), at center, Jared Coppola, another cornerback and Jimmy O’Connell, a running back/linebacker.Last year, the Eagles won their first four games – including a thrilling 20-7 victory in Everett. However, they then lost their next four before coming back to beat Malden Catholic, and then dropped road games to B.C. High and Xaverian to finish 5-6.