DANVERS — Year in and year out the expectations are lofty for the St. John’s Prep football team. The Eagles pride themselves on a carrying a winning tradition on the gridiron and anticipate a state tournament run each season.
Therefore, it’s no surprise to see No. 2 St. John’s one win away from a Super Bowl appearance as the Eagles gear up for Saturday’s Division 1 North final against No. 4 Central Catholic.
“I think the kids are aware of what they’re playing for,” Eagles coach Brian St. Pierre said. “They’re excited. Central Catholic is a rival for us. It’s a healthy rivalry. I think our kids and their kids both get excited to play each other. I think the focus is where it needs to be.
“We appreciate the opportunity to be where we’re at,” St. Pierre added. “The kids have worked hard to be in this game. I hope they put their best foot forward and show people what they’re capable of doing, and what they’ve done, which is play well.”
St. John’s cemented its bid into the sectional final with a 55-28 win over No. 3 Acton-Boxborough last week. The game belonged to junior quarterback Matt Crowley who completed 20-of-31 pass attempts for 295 yards and tossed five touchdown passes. Receivers Max Freedman (nine catches, 170 yards, three touchdowns) and Wes Rockett (nine catches, 115 yards, two touchdowns) had stellar performances. Eagles running back Trent Tully ran for 172 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns.
St. Pierre feels his offense is in a good place.
“I think we’ve been tough to handle,” he said. “We’re really balanced. It’s hard for a defense to hang their hat on saying ‘we’re going to stop this.’ We’ve played well offensively. Matt has had a great year for himself. He has veteran receivers. We try to go 1-0 every week and score as many points as it takes, whether it’s 10 or 40.”
Defensively, the Eagles allowed Acton-Boxborough’s offense to capitalize on a handful of big plays and St. Pierre would like to see those miscues cleaned up moving forward.
“We’ve been struggling all year,” St. Pierre said. “(Acton-Boxborough) made a couple big plays on us. Other than that I thought we stopped them well. We’ve had some big time injuries to key guys on both sides of the ball. Our defense will need to be solid for us to win.”
Central Catholic sealed its bid in Saturday’s sectional final with a 23-20 upset at previously undefeated No. 1 Everett.
The Eagles and Red Raiders met back in Week 2, a 31-12 St. John’s win. St. Pierre said he and his Eagles are putting much stock on prior results.
“Our two teams are so different now,” St. Pierre said. “Both teams have evolved. We have guys playing now that weren’t playing back then because of injuries and such. It was so long ago. Things change.”
The Red Raiders also played the game the same week as the gas explosion that rocked Lawrence, Methuen and Andover — three communities from which Central draws some of its student body.
“Two months ago might as well have been a whole season ago,” St. Pierre added. “We have to play well like we did the first time. If we do we’ll have a chance to win it.”
Kickoff for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Glatz Field.
