With nationally-recruited quarterback Chris Vargas sidelined with an injury, one might’ve expected a run-heavy offense from St. John’s Prep Friday night.
Running back Maxwell Parent obliged. The St. Mary’s transfer carried 30 times for 355 yards and five touchdowns as the top-ranked Eagles (10-0) defeated No. 8 Leominster 48-32 at Glatz Field.
The Division 1 Round of 8 showdown started with a scare for The Prep. Leominster quarterback Osiris Lopez threw a 35-yard touchdown for the game’s first score (6-0).
After Eagles touchdowns from Parent and Jordan Toribio, Lopez answered with a 5-yard rushing score before throwing another touchdown late in the first half.
St. John’s Prep trailed 20-16 at halftime — a rarity for the fans in Danvers.
That said, the second half was the Parent show. With his four second-half touchdowns behind a stellar offensive line, the Eagles jumped ahead by 22 points (48-26).
Next up for St. John’s Prep is a semifinal showdown against No. 5 Central Catholic (TBD), which took down No. 4 Natick Friday.
FOOTBALL
No. 3 Canton 27
No. 6 Marblehead 22
Canton (8-2) advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history with a Division 4 win against Marblehead (7-3). Better yet for Bulldogs’ fans, the home victory came in comeback fashion.
The Magicians jumped on the hosts right away. Armany Villar returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown before Finn Gallup’s rushing score put Marblehead ahead 14-0 during the first quarter.
But Marblehead didn’t score again until a safety in the fourth quarter. Gallup connected with Breydan Callahan through the air to make it 27-22 with less than three minutes to go.
No. 7 Bishop Fenwick 24
No. 2 Abington 14
The Crusaders are off to the Division 6 semifinals after upsetting Abington in enemy territory.
Fenwick’s Tyler Connolly got things started with a rushing touchdown midway through the opening quarter. Dylan Patturelli doubled the advantage during the second quarter after taking a toss to the promised land. Both of Ian Guarino’s extra-point kicks were good as the Crusaders enjoyed a 14-0 cushion.
Then, the big one.
On the final play of the first half, Fenwick’s Andrew Kiricoples threw the ball from the 43-yard line for a Hail Mary try. The ball was tipped, then caught by Tristan Giles for a touchdown (21-7).
No. 1 Nashoba Valley Tech 20
No. 9 KIPP Academy 8
KIPP (4-6) reached the end of the road against top-ranked Nashoba (8-2). The game was much more contested than Nashoba’s 44-12 win against the Panthers during the regular season.
“It was 6-0 (Nashoba) at halftime,” said KIPP coach Jim Rabbitt. “We had chances on a number of deep balls that just didn’t connect.”
KIPP’s Aavian Peña rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 12-8, but Nashoba answered with the game’s final touchdown (20-8).
