DANVERS — It’s two games into the season, and there are plenty of things the St. John’s Prep football team needs to work on to improve its overall game.
But what they’ve shown in the early stages of the 2024 campaign has been pretty impressive just the same.
The Eagles flexed their muscles on both sides of the ball Friday night at Glatz Field, getting defensive stops when needed and scoring on six of their first seven drives to hammer Londonderry, N.H., 42-14, on a warm evening at Glatz Field.
In a contest pitting last year’s Division 1 state finalists from their respective states against one another, the Bay State boys had it all over the Granite State counterparts. A powerful, driving offensive line allowed the hosts to score four rushing touchdowns — three of those out of their ‘big’ goal line package.
St. John’s Prep also got another fine outing from its highly touted freshman quarterback, Chris Vargas. Playing six of his team’s first eight series’, he threw for 164 yards and a pair of scores while completing 7-of-12 passes. Senior captain Deacon Robillard was his usual efficient self in the two drives that he led, going 3-for-4 with a TD pass of his own while also finding paydirt for a 3-yard score of his own.
“It’s been great so far,” said the 15-year-old Vargas, who hails from Lawrence. “A great two games to start my Prep career.”
“We’ve got some youth (including another freshman starter, WR Riley Selvais, and sophomore running back Jordan Toribio) and other guys who are first-time varsity starters, so we’re still finding our way,” said head coach Brian St. Pierre. “And we were going up against a team that’s been to four straight Division 1 Super Bowls up there and had some real talent.
“All things being equal, we put up 42 points and our starting defense gave up one score, I can’t be too upset,” he added. “Are there things for us to correct? Of course there are. But as a coach that’s what you want: a lot to still work on, but also a lot of good things we saw on that field tonight.”
Captain Merrick Barlow, the 6-foot-5 wideout, caught five passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. Several of his grabs were of the highlight reel variety along the sidelines; another was after he beat double coverage down the right side for a 41-yard gain late in the second quarter, setting up the Prep’s fourth touchdown.
Tackles Jack DiFilippo and captain Graham Roberts, guards Ethan Caulfield and Noah Chang, center Angel Heredia, and tight ends Josh Haarmann and Will Kent opened up holes for their backs and got stronger as the game wore on. St. John’s Prep came out in the third quarter and played smashmouth football, pounding away at the Lancers as they drove downfield before Vargas hit Barlow on an 11-yard slant for six points.
“I love how we responded to start the second half,” said St. Pierre, whose team has won its last 15 games at Glatz Field dating back to 2021. “There’s no secrets; they knew what we were doing, and we just moved the pile. That speaks to the line, that speaks to the backs, it speaks to what we do in the weight room and the culture this program is all about.
“It was a slow bleed, like going to the dentist with no novocaine.”
Toribio had a game-high 54 yards on the ground to go with touchdown runs of 14 and 4 yards in the first half. Jeff Quigley had 32 yards on eight carries, Andrew McManmon finished with 22 on five totes, and Edwin Castro added a 2-yard scoring run.
Fullback Jack Shrayer had himself a night as well, catching three passes for 60 yards — one off a draw play that Vargas read perfectly, found Shrayer over the onrushing defensive linemen and watched him rumble for a 43-yard score.
Londonderry’s two touchdowns came on a fumbled scoop-and-score late in the second quarter, and an 80-drive in the third quarter that was punctuated by a 20-yard Mason Paquette TD run.
Captain Jackson Tucker at inside linebacker, Nick Schibli off the edge, and the defensive front of Tom Lafferty, Alex Bajoras and Haarmann — who helped hold the Lancers to just 66 yards on the ground — were defensive standouts for SJP.
“Am I happy with our record and the performances of a lot of our young guys so far? Yes,” said St. Pierre, whose team travels to Lawrence next Friday to take on Central Catholic. “But am I content? No.
“Our growth from Week 1 to Week 2, especially on defense, was noticeable to me. But we’ll need to do that again, and moreso, in a rivalry game up at Central next week.”
Barlow said he “can’t wait” to get to practice next week to work on the nuances he and his teammates hope to improve upon.
“We need to clean up some of the mistakes we made. There’s definitely things we can build on to get better,” said the wideout. “We do that, get better and can score even more points.”
St. John’s Prep 42, Londonderry, N.H. 14
at Name of Glatz Field, Danvers
Londonderry, NH (1-0);0;8;6;0;14
St. John’s Prep (1-0);13;13;7;9;42
Scoring summary
SJP — Jordan Toribio 14 run (kick blocked)
SJP — Jack Shrayer 43 pass from Chris Vargas (Langdon Laws kick)
SJP — Toribio 4 run (Laws kick)
L — Davis Magarian 35 fumble recovery (Adrian Cruz rush)
SJP — Edwin Castro 2 run (rush failed)
SJP — Merrick Barlow 11 pass from Vargas (Laws kick)
L — Mason Paquette 20 run (pass failed)
SJP — Deacon Robillard 3 run (Laws kick)
SJP — Safety, Evan Morgese sacked QB in end zone
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Londonderry — Sam Ogden 8-40, Adrian Cruz 8-15, Carson Palma 1-9, Jordan Ball 3-9, Alexander Villa 2-(-7); St. John’s Prep — Jordan Toribio 9-54, Jeff Quigley 8-32, Andrew McManmon 5-22, Edwin Castro 5-13, Chris Vargas 2-11, Leo Emerson 2-10 Deacon Robillard 1-3, Jake Hall 1-2, Brian Norton 2-2, Dominik Mercier 1-1.
PASSING: Londonderry — Ogden 10-19-102-0-0, Villa 1-1-11-0-0; St. John’s Prep — Vargas 7-12-164-2-0, Robilliard 3-4-72-1-0, John Budrow 0-0-0-0, Mercier 0-0-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Londonderry — Caiden Malek 3-42, Devin Boles 5-34, Mason Paquette 1-20, Carson Palma 1-17; St. John’s Prep — Merrick Barlow 5-117, Jack Shrayer 3-60, Riley Selvais 1-34, Quigley 1-25.