Eagles surrender two 4th quarter scores in upset loss to Pioneers

Oct. 31—DANVERS — St. John's Prep football coach Brian St. Pierre summed up his team's 35-28 upset loss to St. John's of Shrewsbury best after Saturday's game had ended.

"It was a matter of too many unforced errors," said St. Pierre, whose team finished the regular season with a 6-2 mark overall, 2-2 in Catholic Conference play (with one conference game left at Xaverian on Thanksgiving Day). The Eagles now await Monday's Division 1 state playoff seedings.

"We didn't play well, and didn't deserve to win this game because we made too many mistakes," added St. Pierre. "We knew they were a good team that almost beat Xaverian. We needed to play better and didn't do that."

The Eagles should have been aware of what was in store for them when St. John's Shrewsbury's Sebastien Romain broke free for an 82-yard touchdown run on the very first play of the afternoon.

The lead see-sawed back and forth from that point, tied at 7-7, 14-14, and 21-all before the home team took a 28-21 lead in the closing minute of the third quarter when running back Carson Browne crashed into the end zone from a yard out and Max Rizza kicked the extra point. That score was set up by linebacker Dylan Wodarski's interception in the end zone after the visitors mounted a ball control drive to the Prep's 12-yard line.

Momentum appeared to have shifted to St. John's Prep as the fourth quarter began, but the gritty Pioneers answered on a 39-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Miller to Keith Sarkodieh. Sam Lavallee's kick hit the upright and was no good, but the home team's lead had been cut to a single point with just over 10 minutes remaining.

It was all downhill for the Eagles from there. The wet weather made the ball hard to handle for both teams, and the hosts fumbled the kickoff after Shrewsbury scored. Spencer Burns recovered to set the visitors up at the Prep 25-yard line, and seven plays later Miller fired an 11-yard strike to Mike Bonsu. The two-point conversion pass to Romain was good, making it 35-28 with just over seven minutes remaining.

Romain, who is 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, gave the Eagles fits all afternoon with two 82-yard runs, a rushing touchdown and a reception for another as well as the 2-point catch. He carried the ball 25 times for 246 yards.

"He's good and tough to bring down, but we made it too easy for him," said St. Pierre. "That (82-yard) run at the end of the first half was a killer and never should have happened."

Romain was brought down at the 10-yard line by Ryan Grenier on a touchdown-saving tackle. But three plays later Romain (filling in for injured running back Bobby Rodolakis) caught a 5-yard TD pass for a 21-21 tie at halftime.

After the Pioneers went ahead by seven points midway through the fourth quarter the Eagles had one more possession, but Prep QB Jack Perry (13-for-23, 232 yards passing, 3 TD) was sacked by John Melisi, forcing them to punt. St. John's Shrewsbury (4-4, 3-2 Catholic Conference) never relinquished the ball after that, aided by a costly personal foul and offsides penalty against the Prep.

Perry's favorite receiver was Jesse Ofurie, who caught five passes with TD receptions of 12 and 27 yards, respectively. Stephon Patrick added a touchdown reception of 20 yards from Perry.

One of Ofurie's scores came following a blocked punt by sophomore Mason McSweeney, which was recovered by Lucas Verrier and Jack Fillion.

Contact Jean DePlacido @JeanDePlacidoSN

Contact Jean DePlacido @JeanDePlacidoSN