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St. John's Eagles Football '17

Sat, Sep 09, 2017 02:00 PM @ Haverhill
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
St. John's 0 14 7 6 27
Haverhill 0 0 0 0 0

Prep blanks Hillies in opener

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HAVERHILL — Brian St. Pierre wasn’t sure what to expect.
So the St. John’s Prep head coach was pleasantly surprised when his young and inexperienced team opened their season with a solid effort in a 27-0 victory over host Haverhill Saturday afternoon.
“I’m proud of the effort,” said St. Pierre. “Our youth showed on offense, but the defense was very good. We were hard to block, which is always a positive.
“I know we’re going to have growing pains, but I’m proud of our competitiveness,” added St. Pierre. “It’s always good to start the season off with a win.”
The closest the Hillies came to getting on the board was on their opening drive, when they marched to the 2-yard line before quarterback Brady Skafas was sacked by Matt Duchemin on fourth down. Skafas, who carried the ball 20 times, had eight runs for negative yardage because of the pressure from the Eagles’ swarming defense all game.
The Eagles got on the board midway through the second quarter on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mike Yarin to Cole Rinklin, who caught the ball at the 5-yard line and dove into the end zone. Junior tailback Aise Pream rushed for the 2-point conversion and an 8-0 Prep lead.
St. John’s fumbled three times and lost two, but each time the defense dug in to stop Haverhill from mounting a drive. 
James Hanley’s QB sack pinned the Hillies back and forced a punt to set up the visitor’s next score. Yarin moved the team 76 yards in seven plays, barreling in on a 1-yard keeper in the final minute of the half.
“Our offensive line is really young and they did a good job,” said St. Pierre. “We didn’t do anything fancy, but tried to execute. It wasn’t always perfect but we got better as the game wore on.”
Tim O’Connor, the Haverhill head coach and St. John’s Prep graduate, felt his team was very much in the game until the Eagles’ third touchdown with four minutes left int eh fourth quarter. That came when Yarin’s fourth down pass was deflected before Michael Slattery came down with it between two Hillie defenders for a 5-yard score and a 21-0 lead.
That was the killer,” said O’Connor. “It was on fourth down and that ball was up for grabs.
“I want to play the Preps of the world. It’s good for our program, but I knew what I call ‘The Prep Lean’ was coming. They had the size and used it, while we had some injuries and had to shift the pieces around.”
St. John’s Prep defenders Alex Lane, Cullen Zampell, Hanley, James Taylor, William Moulton and a host of others disrupted Haverhill’s running game.
Trent Tully broke tackles for a 6-yard run to pay dirt for the final Prep score.
In all, the Eagles had 14 first downs while holding their opponent to six, including only two after intermission.
“Across the board, team defense was the key,” said St. Pierre. “All 11 of our guys, and even the ones we subbed in, played well.”

Game Statistics:

  Second Quarter

P — Cole Rinklin 11 pass from Mike Yarin (Aise Pream run)

P — Yarin 1 run (pass failed)

Third Quarter

P — Michael Slattery 5 pass from Yarin (Liam Fabbri kick)

Fourth Quarter

P — Trent Tully 6 run (kick failed)

 


INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: HAVERHILL (34-22): Kyle Bellemore 4-16, Brady Skafas 20-7, Hunter Prescott 10-(-1); PREP (32-211): Aise Pream 16-122, Nick Vecchi 8-48, Trent Tully 4-22, Mike Yarin 2-16, Harry Trout 2-3

PASSING: H — Skafas 4-8-0, 34; SJP — M. Yarin 5-8-1, 45

RECEIVING: H — Bellemore 4-34; SJP — Cole Rinklin 3-22, Sean Letarte 1-18, Michael Slattery 1-5

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