St. John’s Prep runs to victory over Malden Catholic

MALDEN – With St. John’s Prep coming off a big win over Catholic Memorial last week, and knowing its opponents for its final two games, Friday night’s matchup against Malden Catholic had all of the elements of a trap game for the Eagles.A trap game it was not as St. John’s cruised to a big first-half lead and defeated the Lancers, 35-7, at Brother Gilbert Stadium in Malden. The win will place The Prep in a tie for first place with the winner of Saturday’s showdown between BC High and Xaverian, the next two opponents for the Eagles (6-3, 2-0 CC). Malden Catholic dropped to a 4-4 record on the season, 0-3 in the Catholic Conference.Click here for a photo gallery.St. John’s put the game out of reach in the first half, scoring 28 points on just 13 offensive plays. For the Eagles, Tyler Coppola made the most of his four first half carries, totaling 134 yards and two touchdowns. Coppola’s touchdown came on an 82-yard scamper in the first quarter. Coppola finished the game with a total of 165 rushing yards.St. John’s35MC7 “They know we’re going to run the ball,” said St. John’s coach Jim O’Leary. “They put the people in the box, and we continue to run the ball. A little more misdirection than normal, but we had a nice first half.”After Coppola’s run, St. John’s took a 14-0 lead one minute later when Alex Moore returned an interception 38 yards for a score.Malden Catholic’s ensuing possession resulted in a net loss of fifteen yards after a botched snap on a punt. The play gave the Eagles possession on the Lancers’ four-yard line. Two plays later Coppola scored for the second time on an eight-yard sweep to the corner pylon.Later, with roughly three minutes remaining in the half, St. John’s quarterback Tommy Gaudet broke through the line on a designed run and found himself standing in the end zone 62 yards later. The Prep entered the half up 28-0.The defense for St. John’s was a swarming mass of mad dogs. In the first half, where Malden Catholic ran a total of 34 plays, the Lancers were only able to gain a total of 98 yards of offense, an average of under three yards a play. For the Prep, Ryan Delisle, Dan Culkeen, and Lucas Bavaro led the hard hitting defense.”I thought we played good team defense in the first half. (Delisle) had his best game of the year at defensive end,” said O’Leary. “We had some talks this week, and that is how he should play and dominate.”Opening the second half with possession, the Eagles sealed the win with a 15-play drive culminating in a one-yard touchdown plunge by Jimmy O’Connell. The drive ate over eight and a half minutes of the clock and put St. John’s ahead, 35-0.”We have work to do as always and we’re still in the hunt for the league championship,” said O’Leary. “We’re in a good position and we’re where we want to be right now.”