BURLINGTON — Different opponent. Different venue. Same dominance.
After St. John’s Prep running back Maxwell Parent rushed for 355 yards and five touchdowns against Leominster last week, he followed with another two scores as the top-ranked Eagles (11-0) handled No. 5 Central Catholic (7-4) 48-7 in Friday’s Division 1 state semifinal at Burlington High.
In the blink of an eye, this one was 16-0 after one quarter. Parent, a St. Mary’s transfer, collected both touchdowns.
The second quarter continued the scoring party as Jordan Toribio raced 80-plus yards down the left sideline (24-0). From there, quarterback John Budrow — filling in for nationally-recruited gunslinger Chris Vargas (out with an injury) — connected with Ethan Stefanovich for an 83-yard touchdown (32-0).
Add two more scores from Toribio and Riley Selvais (from Budrow), and the only thing that stopped Prep’s onslaught was the halftime break (48-0).
The Eagles — helmed by coach Brian St. Pierre — have defeated No. 16 Framingham (38-0 final), No. 8 Leominster (48-32), and now No. 5 Central Catholic (48-7) in their tournament run. That’s 134 points scored across three games, with just 39 allowed.
Now, the waiting game for which team St. John’s Prep will battle at Gillette Stadium for all the marbles. No. 2 Springfield Central and No. 3 Xaverian Brothers square off Saturday at Milford High with kickoff slated for noon.
