Prep can’t spoil Everett’s party

EVERETT – The festivities might have gotten started a little late on Homecoming Day in Everett on Saturday as the Crimson Tide christened their brand new FieldTurf surface at Veterans Memorial Stadium?but when they did, Everett showed why it is one of the top teams in the state.The Crimson Tide survived a second quarter that saw St. John’s Prep keep the ball for 10 of 11 minutes but come away scoreless thanks to a crucial goal line stand before breaking open a close game with a pair of fourth quarter scores en route to a 27-7 win over the Eagles.St. John’s7Everett27 “They did a great job in the first half of keeping the ball away from us,” Everett coach John DiBiaso said. “We were able to get some better field position in the second half and took advantage of it.”The Eagles (2-1) controlled almost everything about the first half except for the score as mistakes and solid play from the Everett (2-0) defense thwarted their efforts.”They have such good players and speed that we have to run a zone defense against them and they took advantage and made some plays in space,” Prep coach Jim O’Leary said. “The difference was that we had people in position to make some plays and couldn’t do it.”Both defenses dominated the bulk of the first quarter as both teams exchanged punts. Late in the first, Everett was set to punt again from the Prep 41 when the Eagles were called for an illegal substitution penalty.The Crimson Tide reversed field and decided to go for it from the 36, converting when Jonathan DiBiaso hit Matt Costello for an eight-yard gain. A 10-yard pass to Manny Asprilla got the Tide in closer, with the BC-bound Asprilla plunging in from the two to make it 6-0 Everett with 95 ticks left in the first.St. John’s would not let Everett see the ball for the next nine minutes as the Eagles put together a methodical drive from their 18.Three times the Prep would convert on third down to keep the march going and then caught a break when Tyler Coppola fumbled but an Eagle lineman recovered at the Everett three.The Crimson Tide defense then stiffened, stuffing Coppola on first and second down. Quarterback Tommy Gaudet’s sneak attempt was stopped for no gain on third down and the middle of the Everett defense stopped another try by Gaudet on fourth down to kill the drive with 2:00 left in the half.Everett punted immediately after the stop and the Eagles got the ball at the Tide 30 with 1:24 left. Four plays, however, resulted in three yards and a turnover on downs.The craziness wasn’t done yet though as Lucas Bavaro picked off DiBiaso at the Everett 35 but was ruled down on the catch preventing an easy touchdown return.”We had our chances. Lucas had a wide open field there and made the catch on his knees. Those things happen though,” O’Leary said.The Eagles failed to convert again on golden field position and Everett took its 6-0 lead to the half.Neither team could get much going in the third until the Tide got the ball at the Prep 32 late in the quarter. Finally given good field position to work with, Everett struck gold as DiBiaso hit Asprilla for a 17-yard catch and run for a touchdown that made it 14-0 after three quarters following a Costello conversion catch.The Eagles then committed their lone mistake of the game on the first play of the final quarter as Gaudet fumbled and Everett recovered at the Eagle 25. Two plays later, Vondell Langston powered in from the eight and the Tide led 20-0.Asprilla would flash his speed one more time midway through the final quarter, taking a short pass and racing 56 yards for a touchdown. Alex Moore’s one-yard run with 1:14 left spoiled Everett’s shutout bid.