Xaverian 21, St. John’s Prep 16: One too many unhappy returns dooms Eagles

DANVERS ? For nearly three full quarters, almost everything seemed to be going St. John’s Prep’s way. Then Xaverian’s Joe Colton put his mark on the game.Colton’s 83-yard kickoff return after the Eagles had taken their first lead was the pivotal play in Xaverian’s 21-16 win over St. John’s, Thursday, at Cronin Memorial Stadium.”I saw a seam and just hit it,” said Colton, who was otherwise contained fairly well by the Prep. “The blocking was great and then when I heard the crowd (roar) I knew I was gone.”It’s the best run of my life,” Colton added. “It just felt awesome.”The win clinched the Catholic Conference title for the Hawks (11-0; 4-0), who will play Brockton on Tuesday in a Division 1 semifinal playoff game. Xaverian also won its 11th regular season game for the first time in school history.”It came down to the kickoff return,” St. John’s coach Jim O’Leary said. “Hey, they’re a very good football team and Colton is a great back, and great backs make great plays.”The Eagles (4-6, 2-2) got a breakout game from quarterback Chris Coady, who threw for a pair of touchdown passes – a 10-yarder to Ryan Delisle in the first quarter and a 28-yarder to Kevin Davis in the closing moments of the fourth quarter, during a hectic Prep rally.Tad Beuchert added a 27-yard field goal after the game’s only turnover, a fumbled punt by Xaverian at its own 15-yard line.Xaverian quarterback Alex Phelan scored the Hawks’ two offensive touchdowns, on a 24-yard run on the first series of the game, and an 8-yard run that gave his team a 21-10 lead with 5:05 left in the game.The opening possession for Xaverian was conducted with surgical precision. Phelan connected with Mike Hyatt for a 38-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage, Colton ran for four yards and then Phelan scrambled around left end and into the end zone. Jules Murphy’s extra point kick was good and the Hawks led, 7-0, after just three offensive plays and 2:58 into the game.St. John’s answered with a grinding 71-yard touchdown drive that lasted a whopping 18 plays and consumed 9:56. Coady hit George Sessoms (game-high 116 yards from scrimmage, including 98 rushing yards on 16 carries) for an 18-yard gain, and then Coady found Davis (3 catches-50 yards) for 15 yards on 3rd-and-15 to the Hawks’ 37. Three plays later, Coady kept the drive alive with a 4-yard gain on 4th-and-2. From the 13, Sessoms picked up 12 yards and then one play later Coady hit Delisle with a lob in the right side of the end zone.Beuchert’s PAT kick was good and the game was tied, 7-7, with seven minutes left in the half.”For the first 13 minutes, we ran three offensive plays,” Xaverian coach Charlie Stevenson said. “They (Eagles) really did a good job of controlling the clock.”Aided by a running-into-the-punter penalty, Xaverian picked up two first downs on its next drive, which eventually stalled at the Prep’s 45 for a punt that was downed at the Eagles’ 8-yard line. Xaverian called a couple of timeouts to try to get the ball back in the final minute of the first half, but Coady and Tyler Coppola foiled the strategy when they connected for a 15-yard gain on 3rd-and-12. One play later, Sessoms picked up 38 yards (the longest play from scrimmage for either team), but ran out of blockers and time as Xaverian pushed him out-of-bounds at the Hawks’ 37 on the final play of the half.A 29-yard run by Sessoms highlighted the Prep’s opening drive of the second half, but the Eagles eventually had to punt after Hyatt sacked Coady for a 10-yard loss and a screen pass lost seven yards.Cavanaugh signaled for a fair catch but muffed the ball, which was recovered at the Xaverian 15-yard line by Brian Garey. Sessoms picked up six yards on the next play, but Chris Ryan was stopped for a 1-yard gain and then Coady was tackled for a 2-yard loss, forcing the Eagles to settle for Beuchert’s 25-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the third quarter.”I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get seven (points) after the turnover,” O’Leary said.”