LYNN — Fun for one team, heartbreaking for the other. That is, the big play.
St. Mary’s rattled off 35-, 46-, and 58-yard touchdowns en route to a 27-6 win against KIPP Academy at Manning Field. Friday night marked the third consecutive win for the Spartans against their city opponent (22-20 in 2023; 41-0 in 2022).
“That’s a good team. They’re going to make a run in their division,” said St. Mary’s coach Sean Driscoll. “That’s their first game under their belt and we had one last week, so I think it was a bit of an advantage for us, but we’re excited to get the win.”
Back to those big plays. After a KIPP-favored first quarter – St. Mary’s had just one possession – Driscoll admitted, “All of a sudden, the run game picked up.”
He was right. Dimitri Koutsouflakis (Winthrop High transfer) opened the scoring with a 35-yard touchdown on the ground, followed by Rowan Merryman’s 46-yard run to the promised land with just a minute remaining before halftime (13-0).
“I’m happy with the way Dimitri and Rowan played today, running the ball hard… Maxwell Parent had some great runs as well,” said Driscoll, who thought Friday’s second-quarter scheme was a big improvement from last week’s narrow win against Swampscott. “We’ve got some hard runners on our roster, so we’re happy with that. And then, also, Adrian Lule, our right guard, had a great game on both sides of the ball.”
Not forgetting about the defense, St. Mary’s was everywhere in the opening half. Matthew Lule broke up a third-down pass attempt, Merryman made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, and both Parent and Michael Morgan snagged interceptions off KIPP’s Elai Machado.
“Three interceptions from Elai in his first varsity game, but he’s understanding the concepts,” said KIPP coach Jim Rabbitt. “Those growing pains will cease as the year goes on, just getting those under his belt.”
KIPP had its moments in the second half – most notably, a 53-yard TD connection between Machado and Jose Echavarria – but consistency was hard to find.
“We weren’t able to pick up any momentum, and the mistakes piled up,” Rabbitt said. “We got grinded down a little bit. We have to check our conditioning, and that’s on me.”
Meanwhile, the touchdown celebrations continued for the Spartans. Parent bolted for a 58-yard rushing score, while Merryman tacked on another from quarterback Yaniel Belliard. Sam Phelps chipped in with a 2-point conversion reception.
“We’ve got a lot of guys rotating through as you can see, which is good,” Driscoll said. “A lot of guys are getting experience.”
Truth be told, KIPP came out of the gates with a solid plan in the first quarter: run the ball and use up the clock.
Driscoll admitted his players took a few moments to adjust.
“With the heat and the 4:30 p.m. start, it’s almost like the kids thought they were going to practice,” he said. “I think we had the ball for maybe six, seven plays in the first quarter.”
In the first half – one that took 73 minutes to complete – both teams were haunted by flags and post-play chippiness.
“We’ve got to clean up the stupid stuff – the penalties, and we had two personal fouls,” Driscoll said. “In high school football, you can’t lose 10 yards after you get a big play. It just can’t happen if you want to be successful.”
KIPP highlights included a sack from Joseph Beato and fumble recoveries from Wilfred Campos and Richard Maria, but the Spartans’ highlight reel was longer.
“They beat us to the punch a lot of the time,” said Rabbitt, whose Panthers started 1-3 ahead of their Super Bowl appearance in 2022. “We had our opportunities, but made mistakes early on and they capitalized. We live and learn. St. Mary’s is tough every year.”
Tough, indeed. Both coaches have called the matchup “an up-and-coming rivalry.”
KIPP visits Boston Latin at 4 p.m. next Friday, while St. Mary’s sits back with a bye week.
“We get a bye week and we try to get healthy,” Driscoll said.
