Gaudet’s legs lift St. John’s over Central Catholic

DANVERS – Turning two would-be broken plays into things of beauty, St. John’s quarterback Tommy Gaudet pulled the Eagles out of the fire on Saturday against Central Catholic at Cronin Memorial Stadium.After playing catch-up for most of the second half, the Eagles trailed 21-14 with 3:26 left when Gaudet’s four-yard touchdown run after fumbling a snap pulled the Prep within a point. Ever the riverboat gambler, Prep coach Jim O’Leary went for the win and Gaudet again turned a busted play into a 2-point conversion and a 22-21 Eagles win.Click here for a photo gallery.”Central is a good, quality team,” O’Leary said. “Tommy made a great play there off that fumble and then on the conversion.”Central Catholic21St. John’s22 The Eagles (2-0) were behind most of the way after Central (1-1) took a 14-6 lead in the second quarter. The Raiders had chances to put the Prep in its rear view mirror during the third quarter but penalties doomed those shots.”We let them off the hook too many times,” Central coach Chuck Angelopulos said.St. John’s got the ball with 4:49 left in the third and immediately faced a third-and-19 from its 12 after a personal foul penalty. Fullback Austin Pierce gashed Central for 18 yards and Gaudet extended the drive with a four-yard sneak on fourth down.Gaudet would convert another big third down on the march late in the quarter as Dillon Gonzalez made a diving, one-hand grab for a 23-yard gain to the Central 43. Tyler Coppola would pay off the drive on the first play of the fourth, dashing 32 yards to pay dirt to tie the game after Gaudet’s conversion rush.The Raiders responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that took over seven minutes off the clock. Matt McDermott did the bulk of the work in getting Central to the Prep 24.Running back Trae Musamarra did the rest, scoring from five yards out with 3:26 left to make it 21-14.The Prep got the ball at its 35 and drove to midfield just before the two-minute warning. O’Leary then elected to go for the downs, as Gaudet hit Gonzalez for a 46-yard gain to the four on a play that was diagrammed at the half.”That was a halftime adjustment by our coaches up top,” O’Leary said. “They were selling out on our option so we decided to fake the option and throw it up to Dillon.”Gaudet then did the rest to give the Prep the lead with 2:03 remaining. Central would reach the Eagle 49 before Chris Ryan picked off McDermott to seal the win.”Give them credit, they drove the ball with 3:00 remaining and won the game,” Angelopulos said.