FOXBOROUGH — No. 1 St. John’s Prep and No. 2 Xaverian know each other all too well, and that was indicative in Wednesday’s game, aka, the Division 1 Super Bowl.
It was as back-and-forth as it gets in a 31-25 Xaverian victory, its second in six days after Thursday’s Thanksgiving win against the same team.
Trailing in the fourth quarter, Prep’s defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 2:13 remaining on its own 37 yard-line.
The drive had its promise, but quarterback Deacon Robillard was sacked, bringing up a fourth down – for the season.
They got it, as Jack Angelopolus hauled one in from Robillard for 36 yards. Prep entered enemy territory as the seconds ticked away.
It got even better for Prep after a defensive pass interference call in the endzone put the Eagles in the redzone. But then, back-to-back sacks plagued them, and a last-second comeback fell short.
After 11 wins and close to 500 total points, Prep’s season came to an end.
Brian St. Pierre, who fell short of his fourth Super Bowl at the helm, saw his team start fast. Prep forced a fumble and recovered it on the second play of the game, courtesy of Anthony Carusi.
Prep then did what it does best: run the football.
After strong running from Cam LaGrassa (46 rushing yards after one), Jimmy Nardone came in and punched it in on a quarterback sneak to give Prep an early 6-0 lead. Then, a controversial 2-point attempt was no good.
“The first two-point conversion hurt us, it kind of put us behind. We were in too,” St. Pierre said. “That hurt. It put us behind having to play catch up with extra points. It’s unfortunate. They saw it and I think they saw it on the video board afterwards and they missed it. That didn’t decide the game, but it put us behind a bit.”
Both teams traded punts before Xaverian found a hole in Prep’s defense. Henry Hasselbeck found wide receiver Caleb Brown on the outside. Brown evaded the first tackle and won the race to the endzone with 7:40 left in the second quarter.
Then, with 1:04 left in the half, Hasselbeck found Brown again, this time for a 38-yard score on a pinpoint pass to the back corner of the endzone.
The extra point was good, making it an eight-point game, 14-6.
But Prep stayed aggressive with 55 seconds remaining in the half. Quarterback Deacon Robillard found Merrick Barlow for a 38-yard score to take momentum back before halftime.
Another failed two-point conversion made the score 14-12 Xaverian at the break.
Prep, known for its running game, started the second half mixing it up. Robilard found Mason McSweeney for an 18-yard pass on the first play of the half.
Then, on a big third-and-12, Robillard found Gavin Gold on a screen pass for a 23-yard gain. Gael Garcia’s run put a lid on the drive to put Prep ahead, 18-14, with 8:32 remaining in the third quarter.
On Xaverian’s next possession, Hasselbeck showed he had more than an arm as he sprinted through Prep’s defense for a 55-yard gain to get Xaverian to the 1-yard line. Mike O’Connor punched it in for Xaverian, restoring its lead, 21-18.
Back and forth they went. Prep started to use the rollout to its advantage as Robillard found a wide open Garcia for a 16-yard touchdown – his second of the half.
But neither quarterback gave in as Hasselbeck responded, finding his favorite target, Brown, for his third grab – and third score – to give Xaverian a 28-25 lead with 11:47 left in the game.
“Caleb Brown has not been put in the spotlight as much as he should,” Hasselbeck said. “He’s a great player and one of the toughest kids I know… I trust him fully, everyone on our team trusts him fully. That’s why I put so much faith in him in games.”
It was the fourth lead change of the second half.
Xaverian forced Prep to punt. The result: a 33-yard field goal from Luke Bell to make it 31-25 with 5:07 remaining.
How big those points would be.
After the game, an emotional St. Pierre praised his team.
“That team had an unbelievable run… It’s hard to get here and we’ve done it four out of the last five years,” St. Pierre said. “I just love my guys and they just got their hearts ripped out so I just want to be with them right now more than anything. I want them to know how much I admire them for everything they do and what they give to our program.”
When asked if it was tough playing Xaverian twice in six days, St. Pierre admitted it was an “awkward situation.”
“Yeah it was [tough]. You don’t want to show too much [in] the first game, but on the same token we’ve played so much ball by now that we know what we’re getting,” St. Pierre said. “It was a great stage for high school football in Massachusetts and New England. That’s what it’s supposed to be. It’s going to be hard to live up to that game. I’m sure there will be some good games, don’t get me wrong, but talent level, execution, and the physicality of that game is going to be hard to match.”
Hasselbeck praised St. John’s Prep and was pleased with how the game turned out.
“I could not respect them more, they’re one of the best teams in the state year in, year out,” Hasselbeck said. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. I wanted it to be a nail-biter, barn burner, close game like this. It was a great game.”
For a Division I football game between the top two teams in the state, it lived up to its expectations.
“It was an unbelievable high school football game. It was great competition, [the] best football in New England,” St. Pierre said. “One team had to lose and unfortunately it had to be us.”
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