WEEKEND PREVIEW
Early showdown between CC, St. John’s Prep
Rarely does a football team allow more than 40 points in a game and wind up with the win. No. 3 Central Catholic and No. 4 St. John’s Prep managed to pull it off. These two teams meet Saturday (1 p.m.) and it’s reasonable to predict if one of these talented teams allow 40 points, they aren’t going to leave the field undefeated. St. John’s Prep enters the game having beaten Central Catholic four straight times, twice in the postseason.
Central Catholic gave up 52 points, but managed to drop 67 on Springfield Central. If there is any solace, the Raiders were far better on defense in the second half, allowing just a pair of touchdowns, while forcing three turnovers.
“I liked our team character in the second half,” CC coach Chuck Adamopoulos said. “Everyone knows that Ayden Pereira had a great game, but we had a lot of different guys step up, people like Justice McGrail and Mathias Latham.
“We’re going to have to better because St. John’s Prep is very explosive on offense. They can run the ball on one series, then open it up on the next one.”
St. John’s Prep required a little more drama to defeat Marshfield. Leading the entire game, the Eagles watched as Marshfield took a 42-41 lead with 35 seconds left. The visitors proceeded to drive 73 yards with Jack Perry capping off the winning drive by connecting with Jesse Ofurie on a 26-yard TD with five seconds left to give them a pulsating 47-42 win.
“I give our guys a lot of credit for keeping their poise,” St. John’s Prep coach Brian St. Pierre said. “We work on a lot of those scenarios in practice, two-minute drill, one-minute drill, going without timeouts. It was nice to see them take what we worked on in practice and do it in the game.”
Not surprisingly, both coaches feel the game will come down to which side can neutralize the
xother more.
s “We struggled on defense last week, but I
othink we will be better this week,” St. Pierre
esaid. “Central Catholic has a big-play offense
-and their quarterback will have to be our focus –
che’s a very good player.”
y Elsewhere on Saturday, Wellesley and Milford ’come off solid opening-week wins and will meet
in Wellesley.
s The Friday schedule is loaded with terrific
tmatchups. A juicy Patriot League crossover -game pits No. 13 Scituate at No. 9 Duxbury. The
Dragons haven’t lost to a PL opponent since
sHingham
defeated them in 2007.
e The Catholic Conference will be in the limelight
t(RI), as No. 1 Catholic Memorial hosts LaSalle No. 5 Xaverian travels to Bridgewater-Raynham, while BC High hosts a talented Springfield
dCentral squad. In Central Mass., St. John’s
n(Shrewsbury) looks to get back on the winning
wtrack when it takes on rival Shrewsbury.
- A trio of terrific nonleague matchups headline
.the Middlesex League slate. No. 10 Barnstable
ytakes the long road trip to Reading to meet the -12th-ranked Rockets, No. 6 Lincoln-Sudbury
fvisits Melrose and St. Bernard’s heads to Stonegham.
yon An old school Bay State Conference rival is tap as Walpole travels to No. 14 Natick. East
rBoston and Brighton meet in an early-season
sbattle for bragging rights in the city, while Nantucket and Mashpee is the premier matchup on the Cape.