BOSTON — There’s a reason football coaches often preach winning the turnover battle.
The team that forces turnovers and pounces on them usually finds itself of the winning end. The team that commits turnovers and gifts its opponent opportunities usually finds itself on the losing side.
St. John’s Prep was the latter Wednesday night in its 14-12 loss to Thanksgiving rival Xaverian at Fenway Park. St. John’s committed three fumbles, was intercepted in Xaverian’s end zone and botched a PAT in the loss. The Eagles also turned the ball over on downs twice in Xaverian territory.
“We killed ourselves tonight,” St. John’s coach Brian St. Pierre said. “They didn’t stop us all day, we stopped ourselves. We went up and down the field. It’s frustrating. It’s as frustrating a game as I’ve ever coached. We didn’t do enough to win.”
Although St. John’s will play Catholic Memorial next Saturday night (8) for the Division 1 state championship, Wednesday’s game also had a title on the line. Xaverian earned the Catholic Conference crown with the win.
“It’s very, very disappointing,” St. Pierre said. “We have to get over it. This game’s as big as the Super Bowl.”
Wes Rockett, the star of the game for St. John’s, caught eight passes for 90 yards. Rockett scored the Eagles’ first touchdown on a 45-yard punt return and hauled in an interception.
Quarterback Matt Crowley tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Nick Masterson in the third quarter, closing the scoring.
The St. John’s offense couldn’t help itself in the first half. A 42-yard pass from Crowley to Max Freedman on the first play put the Eagles on Xaverian’s 28-yard line. It went downhill from there for the next 20 minutes.
St. John’s turned the ball over on downs, then fumbled at Xaverian’s 41 on its next drive. Hawks quarterback Michael Berluti cashed in on the short field and put Xaverian on the board with a 10-yard keeper (Justin Wenstrom PAT).
Mike Masse plowed into the end zone on a 7-yard rush (Wenstrom PAT) and padded Xaverian’s lead to 14-0 with 5:04 remaining in the half. A Rockett interception at midfield gave the Eagles life but St. John’s fumbled at Xaverian’s 25 on the next play. The Eagles forced Xaverian to punt and Rockett’s 45-yard return to the end zone made it a 14-6 game (PAT failed).
“For a team that didn’t play really well, No. 5 (Rockett) played really well,” St. Pierre said. “Wes played really well. He’s a senior captain. That’s kind of what we expect from him. We came up short but he played really well.”
It stood at 14-6 at halftime.
St. John’s marched the ball down to Xaverian’s 20 on its opening possession of the second half but, again, the Eagles hurt themselves with a costly turnover. Nazio Defreitas picked off a Crowley pass in the end zone with 7:05 remaining in the third quarter. Crowley made up for the error four minutes later when he connected with Masterson for a 2-yard touchdown pass (conversion failed).
Clinging to a 2-point lead (14-12), the Hawks’ defense did the heavy lifting the rest of the way. Xaverian forced a turnover on downs at its own 25 with 2:46 remaining and ran out the clock, with help from Masse, to seal the 14-12 win.
The Eagles aim to turn the page on the loss as they shift gears to the state championship.
“I have a pretty disappointed group but we’re playing for the state title next week,” St. Pierre said. “We wanted this one. We have time to shake it out but it’s going to take some time.”
