DANVERS– The 2017 season has been a rocky one for the St. John’s Prep football team.
The Eagles, plagued by injuries and inexperience, haven’t seen the same level of success they’re accustomed to this fall. St. John’s reached the Division 1 North state tournament after a 3-4 regular season, but was ousted quickly with a loss to Everett in the quarterfinals.
That being said, a win on Thanksgiving against rival Xaverian would certainly erase some of the downs the Eagles have fought this fall.
“Xaverian is our biggest rival,” Eagles coach Brian St. Pierre, in his fourth season at the helm, said. “We’ve had big battles with them in the past. They’ve had some tough games early in the year and they’ve been playing better lately. It’s the toughest game on both of our schedules when we play one another, it’s like Michigan vs. Ohio State.”
St. John’s, winner of its last two contests, enters Thursday’s game at 5-5 on the season. Xaverian, on the other hand, is 6-4 and will play Everett in the Division 1 state final. St. Pierre knows his Eagles will have their hands full in looking to end their season with a victory.
“Xaverian is very good defensively,” St. Pierre said. “They play their schemes really well, they’re well coached. They’re a bit one-dimensional on offense, they like to run the football a little more than they throw it. They’re experienced, a bit more than us. We’ve had good battles and we’re expecting a tight, physical game.”
It helps the Eagles’ cause that they’ve been able to turn their season around since the playoff loss to Everett. With wins over Lowell and Andover in their previous two games, St. Pierre has seen a handful of late-season improvements from the Eagles.
“We’re a young team and we’ve had a lot of injuries so it’s been a rocky season for us,” St. Pierre said. “We’re still a little inexperienced in some spots. This game is another big spot for us and our kids should be used to that but I like the way we’ve been playing the past two weeks.
“Our schedule’s the toughest in the state,” St. Pierre said. “We played Everett twice, BC High, Central Catholic. Andover and Lowell, the past two teams we’ve played, are good teams. We’re starting our third-string quarterback and he played really well. Our whole team has played well.”
Leading the Eagles’ offense are guard Kevin Dewing, running back Aise Pream and tight end Michael Slattery. On defense, St. John’s is led by linebacker Coltan Tangney, defensive tackle James Taylor and defensive end Alex Lane.
The key for St. John’s on Thursday will be winning the first down, on both sides of the ball. The Eagles will look to avoid falling into second and third-and-long situations when they have possession, while forcing the Hawks into those instances when Xaverian has the ball.
“When you play Xaverian you have to win first down on both sides of the ball,” St. Pierre said.
“You can’t play second-and-long or third-and-long against them. Defensively, we have to force them into second-and-long. We can’t turn the ball over, they’re good enough. If we take care of those two things, we’ll be in it.”
Kickoff for Thursday’s contest is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. at Cronin Memorial Stadium.
