Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: St. Pierre handling transition to coaching just fine

If there?s ever been anyone who has had a more spectacular introduction into the ranks of high school football coaching than Brian St. Pierre, we?d like to know who it is.St. Pierre, who was named head coach at St. John?s Prep during the off-season, has been tasked with playing four ranked teams in his first four weeks — three of them on the road.This is Week 3 of the four-week excursion into the upper echelons, and so far, The Saint is 3-0, having shocked Bridgewater-Raynham and Brockton in their backyards; and Central Catholic, which had been ranked No. 2, in Danvers Saturday. If The Prep can somehow go into Everett Stadium Saturday and defeat the Crimson Tide, that would be four-for-four, and we?d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has ever had a more successful debut.St. Pierre knew, coming into the season, that the Eagles were on few people?s radar, and he actually liked that. It?s much easier sneaking up on people sometimes than it is fending them off.In Week 1, Bridgewater-Raynham?s top player got hurt and there was plenty of sentiment that The Prep was fortunate. Sure it was. Just as all St. John?s opponents who got to play the Eagles last year after Johnny Thomas tore up his knee were fortunate. Nobody felt sorry for The Prep then.In Week 2, the Prep defense stood tall, and stopped Brockton on its own seven with time running out to win. And last week, the Eagles, in their home opener, took over in the second half and pulled away.Regardless of how these wins came about, nobody can dispute the fact they?re impressive.There?s no telling what happens from hereon out. With the schedule St. John?s plays, an undefeated season would be a tall task. There?s still Everett this week, there?s still the Catholic Conference schedule, the MIAA playoffs, and — of course — No. 1 Xaverian.But at this juncture, anyone who doubted whether St. Pierre, whose playing experiences included Boston College and the NFL, had the chops to coach ?em up should be satisfied.On to other matters: It?s always nice to see a team win when its primary star is either having an off night or is handcuffed by all the attention the other team pays to him. Marblehead is 3-0 despite the fact that teams are lining up to stop Brooks Tyrrell; and last week, Saugus defeated Triton — no slouch team — even though the Vikings were obviously keying on Dan Cacciola.That?s when Saugus coach Mike Broderick switched gears and put the ball in quarterback Justin Winn?s hands, and it paid off. Winn scored three touchdowns and ran for 122 yards.How good must Pope John Paul II be? Answer? Apparently, very good. PJPII demolished Tech in Week 1, and all the Tigers have done since then is win two straight … St. Mary?s scraped by a luckless Swampscott team that has started 0-3 despite some optimism heading into the season; and then spanked St. Clement last Saturday night. This is the part of the season when St. Mary?s fell back to earth last year, and it started with a loss to Austin Prep. The Spartans have a chance to right that wrong Saturday morning in Reading … Aside from Saugus — which is an early-season pleasant surprise — one team that wasn?t on too many radar screens was Winthrop. However, the people who may have downplayed the Vikings may want to rethink that. They are experienced, and they could make some noise … Somehow, it just seemed inevitable that Peabody, under Mark Bettencourt, would stage a resurgence. So far, the Tanners have beaten up on English and Somerville. This week they face a big test with Danvers. The Falcons may be 0-2, but the losses came at the hands of Beverly and Marblehead, two of the better teams around. Also, Danvers has the advantage of a) being at home Saturday night; and b) coming off a bye week … Classical is back at it Friday night, at Salem, against a Witches team hungry for its first win. Like Danvers, Salem — under new coach Matt Bouchard — had two tough foes in its first two games, Gloucester and Marblehead (and the Witche