Crowley, Pream lift Eagles’ O

DANVERS — Once it started clicking, there was no stopping the St. John’s Prep offense.

Behind two third-quarter touchdowns, the Eagles soared past Central Catholic, 31-12, last night.

“We had trouble controlling our emotions,” said Prep coach Brian St. Pierre. “You can want something too much, and as a group early, we wanted it too much and had self-inflicted stuff. We took the lead before the half and imposed our will.”

Central Catholic, located in Lawrence, nearly didn’t play after Thursday’s gasinduced explosions that affected the Merrimack Valley.

“We had a lot of people up there as well, so I think it affected both teams,” said St. Pierre. “At the end of the day, it’s a football game. What happened (Thursday) was much more important. But I hope and I think it was a nice respite for everyone to come together.”

The Eagles (2-0) set the tone with a 13-play drive in the first quarter spanning more than six minutes. But the Raiders defense got the stop and the stanza ended scoreless.

Central struck first on a 32-yard rush from Anthony Caggianelli early in the second during a span of four first downs in five plays to take a 6-0 lead.

The Eagles weren’t dormant for long, connecting on a 38-yard toss from Matt Crowley to Anthony Fagan to secure a 7-6 lead.

The Raiders answered quickly, needing just four plays before Joe Howshan lined up in the wildcat on the Prep 28 and hit paydirt to take a 12-7 advantage.

Crowley and the Eagles took a 14-12 lead into halftime after he found Aise Pream on a 10-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter.

Crowley’s 1-yard QB sneak touchdown and Pream’s 11yard score put the game on ice in the key third quarter.