Football: Prep, Thomas (3 TDs) run down Brockton, 27-12

A week after not cashing in its chances in a close loss to Everett last week, St. John’s Prep had no such trouble while dismantling Brockton, 27-12, Friday night at rain-swept Marciano Stadium. The Eagles (3-1) rolled behind a dominant performance from their offensive line.Jonathan Thomas rushed for 224 yards and contributed three scores on runs of 26, 24 and 12 yards and put the Eagles ahead to stay with his first touchdowns midway through the second quarter. Alex Moore also eclipsed 100 yards and got the Eagles on the board with a 65-yard jaunt in the first quarter, staking them to a 7-6 lead at the time.”For a rainy night, we did what we wanted to do and kept the ball away from them as much as possible. It started out like a track meet but they lost their quarterback and that really limited what they were able to do on offense. Our offensive line played exceptionally well and our defense had a strong all-around effort,” said coach Jim O’Leary.Brockton (2-2) sandwiched scoring runs of eight yards by Austin Leclair and five yards from quarterback Austin Roberts around Moore’s TD for a 12-7 second quarter lead. Roberts, though, was injured on his scoring play and did not return to action.It gets no easier for the Prep, which faces another stiff road test at Bridgewater-Raynham next Friday (7).Beverly 36, Winthrop 8At Winthrop, the Panthers had trouble holding onto the football in miserable conditions but still had more than enough to run away from the Vikings and improve to 4-0 behind Brendan Flaherty (three TDs) and Kenny Pierce (two TDs). The two senior standouts both eclipsed 100 yards rushing. Winthrop, now 1-3, was without junior standout Jordan Corbett-Frank (concussion).Flaherty (31 yards) and Pierce (47 yards) propelled the Panthers to a 14-0 lead but Winthrop pulled to within 14-8 at the break on freshman Reise Turransky’s 20-yard scoring pass from sophomore quarterback Dylan Driscoll. Flaherty personally put it away with a 19-yard run in the third quarter and an 86-yard interception return for a score early in the fourth, his second pick six in as many weeks. Pierce added a 37-yard jaunt midway through the quarter.The Panthers take on Peabody next Saturday at home (1) while the Vikings tackle Arlington Catholic at home Friday night (7).Gloucester 35, Peabody 7At Peabody, Zach Smith scored on runs of four, 44 and 59 yards while quarterback Santo Parisi scored the backbreaking touchdown on the final play of the first half as the Fishermen (1-3) secured their first win of the season. Peabody fell to 0-4. Gloucester held the ball for more than 11 minutes to close the first half and start the second with both possessions culminating in touchdowns.Peabody closed to within 28-7 on Cody Wlasuk’s 28-yard pass to Mike Raymond on the first play of the fourth quarter. Raymond set up the score with a long interception return. Jon Good closed out the scoring for the Fishermen with a 27-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.Gloucester chases its second win next Saturday against Masconomet.