Classic matchup on tap for tonight
The race for the Catholic Conference title begins in earnest tonight with a classic encounter.
No. 1 Catholic Memorial goes on the road to face No. 3 St. John’s Prep in what has quickly turned into a must-see event the last few years. While Catholic Memorial is the two-time defending league champion, St. John’s Prep went on grab the grand prize, the Division 1 Super Bowl title, at the Knights’ expense.
“I’ve always had respect for their program going back to playing them when I was at Everett,” said Catholic Memorial coach John DiBiaso. “This game has become big in recent years because they beat us two years in a row in the Super Bowl. We’ve always had good games with them and hopefully we can continue to play those type of games.”
St. John’s Prep (5-0) has rebounded nicely from an uncharacteristic 3-4 record during the Fall 2 season in the spring. Head coach Brian St, Pierre said a variety of different reasons factored into that record,
“The spring season was a unique deal and we handled it a little differently,” St. Pierre said. “We knew we were going to be a little down from where we were two years, but we used it for what was coming down the pike and we benefited from it.”
The game features a slew of talented players in the skill positions. The host Eagles are averaging more than 40 points a game and can hurt you in a variety of different ways. Quarterback Jack Perry has a trio of star receivers in Jackson Delaney, Jesse Ofurie and Stephon Patrick, while running back James Guy is as good as it gets around here.
In the four games that Catholic Memorial has competed in (the Knights received a forfeit against Amherst-Pelham), they’ve lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 46 points a game. Quarterback JC Petrongolo is making up for lost time as he missed virtually the entire spring season due to an injury and he’s benefiting from a receiving corps led by Jaedn Skeete, Kole Osinubi, Mervens Amazan and Matt Rios.
Teams who have tried to take away the passing game have found the Knights are just as lethal on the ground. Datrell Jones and Carson Harwood might very well be the best running back tandem around.
“In a game like this with two really good offenses, it essentially comes down which defense can stop the other,” DiBiaso said. “St. John’s Prep can score in bunches, we saw that in the Central Catholic game where they put up a lot of points on a good team.”
Elsewhere this evening, the slate is loaded with contests having league championship implications.
The winner of the the Latin Academy-East Boston game can pretty much wrap up the Boston North title. No. 5 Central Catholic visits No. 16 Methuen in an MVC Large showdown, Tewksbury looks to put a stranglehold on the MVC Small title as it travels to Chelmsford.
Two big contests in the Hockomock League as Foxboro travels to North Attleboro and No. 12 Milford visits King Philip. Undefeated Rockland travels to Middleboro, Blue Hills puts its 12-game unbeaten streak on the line at Old Colony, while No. 15 Scituate takes on Hanover in a Patriot Fisher contest.
Upstart Westford Academy heads to Lincoln-Sudbury to face the sixth-ranked Warriors, who own an 11-game winning streak.
Lawrence Academy headlines the Saturday’s ISL schedule as it travels to St. Sebastian’s. BB&N hosts a Belmont Hill team looking to rebound from last week’s loss to Tabor.
Norwood hosts Holliston in a Tri-Valley League contest. No. 8 Marblehead goes to Beverly, while Sandwich hosts Nantucket.