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LAWRENCE - Ayden Pereira wore a well-earned smile as he left Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday."That was fun," said Central Catholic's sophomore quarterback. "We came out strong, we were clicking, and we got the job done. It was definitely fun."Pereira threw four first-half touchdowns, the Central defense allowed just 28 total yards for the game and the top-seeded Raiders rolled past No. 8 Lexington on Saturday in the Division 1 North quarterfinals."We felt like we could impose our will today," said linebacker Dominic Pedi. "We came out flying around the field, and we did what we needed to do. It felt so good to get a good win."Central (7-1) advances to host No. 4 Everett (7-1) in the Division 1 North semifinals on Saturday, scheduled for a noon kickoff. "We know that we have the ability to be a special team," said lineman Uyu Osayimwen. "We know we can do special things. We did our jobs today, and that gives us a lot of confidence moving on to face Everett."Central quickly dispatched of Lexington on Saturday.On the Raiders' first offensive play, Pereira tossed a shovel pass to Nate Hebert, who scampered 16 yards for a touchdown."That was a little bit of a cheesy touchdown for me," joked Pereira, who threw the ball a foot on the play. "We picked up a few good blocks, Nate got the edge, and he got into the end zone."A possession later, Pereira's third pass of the day went for a 12-yard touchdown to Nick Donatio. Moments after that, his sixth pass was a 12-yard touchdown to Jermaine Wiggins, a play after the two connected on a 33-yard completion.Pereira's final TD came six plays into the second quarter, when he hit Nathel Achuo for a 13-yard score. The young QB finished the day 9 of 10 passing for 133 yards, his lone incompletion after a defensive back dragged down his receiver."We always have confidence we can do this," said Pereira. "We know we can put up these types of points. The defense was giving us good field position, and we did our job."While the offense was rolling - Mark Kassis and Michael Brown each added a touchdown run before the starters left the game at halftime - the Raider defense was equally dominant. Central forced Lexington into five straight three-and-outs to start the game, then allowed one first down on the next drive before Raider Dom Tritto intercepted a pass. The Minutemen managed just 11 total yards in the first half against the Central starters, and 17 in the second half against the backups, including negitive-40 rushing yards for the game. Pedi, Enly DeLaCruz  and Nick Palmer each had a sack in the first half, and Mathew St. Hilaire had two sacks after halftime. Justice McGrail and Stephen Piro each added an interception."We thought we could move people," said Pedi. "We just wanted to play our style of football. It didn't matter who we played today, we just wanted to go out and play our brand of football."Next week will serve as a rematch of last year's quarterfinals, when Central went to Everett and upset the No. 1-seeded unbeaten Crimson Tide 23-20 on a Nick Mazzie field goal."Everett is Everett, so they are always going to be good," said Pereira. "Today's win feels good, but it doesn't mean anything if we can't beat Everett."

LAWRENCE - Ayden Pereira wore a well-earned smile as he left Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday."That was fun," said Central Catholic's sophomore quarterback. "We came out strong, we were clicking, and we got the job done. It was definitely fun."Pereira threw four first-half touchdowns, the Central defense allowed just 28 total yards for the game and the top-seeded Raiders rolled past No. 8 Lexington on Saturday in the Division 1 North quarterfinals."We felt like we could impose our will today," said linebacker Dominic Pedi. "We came out flying around the field, and we did what we needed to do. It felt so good to get a good win."Central (7-1) advances to host No. 4 Everett (7-1) in the Division 1 North semifinals on Saturday, scheduled for a noon kickoff. "We know that we have the ability to be a special team," said lineman Uyu Osayimwen. "We know we can do special things. We did our jobs today, and that gives us a lot of confidence moving on to face Everett."Central quickly dispatched of Lexington on Saturday.On the Raiders' first offensive play, Pereira tossed a shovel pass to Nate Hebert, who scampered 16 yards for a touchdown."That was a little bit of a cheesy touchdown for me," joked Pereira, who threw the ball a foot on the play. "We picked up a few good blocks, Nate got the edge, and he got into the end zone."A possession later, Pereira's third pass of the day went for a 12-yard touchdown to Nick Donatio. Moments after that, his sixth pass was a 12-yard touchdown to Jermaine Wiggins, a play after the two connected on a 33-yard completion.Pereira's final TD came six plays into the second quarter, when he hit Nathel Achuo for a 13-yard score. The young QB finished the day 9 of 10 passing for 133 yards, his lone incompletion after a defensive back dragged down his receiver."We always have confidence we can do this," said Pereira. "We know we can put up these types of points. The defense was giving us good field position, and we did our job."While the offense was rolling - Mark Kassis and Michael Brown each added a touchdown run before the starters left the game at halftime - the Raider defense was equally dominant. Central forced Lexington into five straight three-and-outs to start the game, then allowed one first down on the next drive before Raider Dom Tritto intercepted a pass. The Minutemen managed just 11 total yards in the first half against the Central starters, and 17 in the second half against the backups, including negitive-40 rushing yards for the game. Pedi, Enly DeLaCruz  and Nick Palmer each had a sack in the first half, and Mathew St. Hilaire had two sacks after halftime. Justice McGrail and Stephen Piro each added an interception."We thought we could move people," said Pedi. "We just wanted to play our style of football. It didn't matter who we played today, we just wanted to go out and play our brand of football."Next week will serve as a rematch of last year's quarterfinals, when Central went to Everett and upset the No. 1-seeded unbeaten Crimson Tide 23-20 on a Nick Mazzie field goal."Everett is Everett, so they are always going to be good," said Pereira. "Today's win feels good, but it doesn't mean anything if we can't beat Everett."