Eagles shut out Shrewsbury, move on in Division 1 playoffs

Jean DePlacido, The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.
·5 min read

Nov. 6—DANVERS — It would be easy to look at the final score and get the idea St. John's Prep dominated Shrewsbury High from start to finish in a shutout win Friday night. But that wasn't the case in their Division 1 playoff opener at Glatz Field.

The visiting Colonials moved the ball downfield in the first half while the Eagles had only two possessions. But the third seeded hosts quickly made the most of them to get on the scoreboard and eventually walk away with a 28-0 triumph.

Shrewsbury had no trouble getting into the red zone, but couldn't finish because of big plays by the Eagles (now 7-2).

The Colonials had a long ball control drive down to the Eagles' 16-yard line before Tyee Ambrosh intercepted a Jack O'Sullivan pass in the end zone. St. John's Prep took over and went 80 yards behind the running of Carson Browne, who carried eight times on the drive for 78 yards, and capped it off with a 7-yard run to paydirt.

Browne wound up with 106 yards two TDs as well as two rushes for 2-point conversions before taking a seat in the fourth quarter.

"Carson runs hard, and the line did a good job opening up holes for him," Prep coach Brian St. Pierre said about the junior from Peabody. "He keeps his legs going and doesn't go down. It's great to see Carson rewarded for his hard work (coming back from an ACL injury); as a coach you love that."

After stopping the Colonials in the red zone on their next possession when O'Sullivan was sacked by Jack Fillion and Mike Nabbout, it took the Eagles just five plays to strike again. Quarterback Jack Perry completed a pass to Jesse Ofurie for a 40-yard touchdown with just over a minute remaining in the first half. The 2-point conversion rush by Browne gave the Eagles a 14-0 halftime lead.

Time of possession heavily favored the visitors, but the first four times the Eagles had the ball they scored.

St. John's Prep will now host Wachusett — a 35-19 winner over Andover — next Friday at 6 p.m.

"We'll take the win, but we'll have to play better next week against a stronger opponent," said St. Pierre.

"We were fortunate the offense scored when we got the ball, but defensively we have to get off the field. There was so much pressure on our offense to produce early. Shrewsbury was using every second on the clock to slow things down early because they didn't want to get into an up tempo game. Give them credit; they did what they thought was their only chance to win."

St. John's got the ball to start the third quarter and went 60 yards for another score, culminated with an 8-yard run by Browne. The final score came late in the third quarter on a fourth down 46-yard pass from Perry to Ofurie, who raced down the left sideline.

There was some confusion on a 15-yard penalty called against the home team at the end of the quarter after an incomplete fourth down pass to the end zone. At first the officials indicated Shrewsbury would keep possession, but Prep assistant coach Chris Tolios pointed out it was a dead ball foul.

"It was a late hit call after the play, and coach Tolios said it should still be our ball," said St. Pierre. "I talked to the ref, and he tacked on the 15 after giving us the ball to start the fourth quarter."

St. Pierre went to his bench the rest of the way, and Victor Harrington took over at quarterback. Santiago Quiceno made a couple of nice catches before Harrington took a knee. Defensively linebacker Conan Keefe made some big tackles, Nabbout and Fillion kept the pressure on O'Sullivan, and Ambrosh and Ryan Grenier broke up passes in the end zone.

"They got behind us a couple of times," said St. Pierre. "We have some work to do and things to clean up."

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St. John's Prep 28, Shrewsbury 0

at Glatz Field, Cronin Stadium, Danvers

Shrewsbury (4-5);0;0;0;0;0

St. John's Prep (7-2);0;14;14;0;28

Scoring Summary

SJP- Carson Browne 7 run (kick failed)

SJP- Jesse Ofurie 40 pass from Jack Perry (Browne rush)

SJP- Browne 2 run (kick failed)

SJP- Ofurie 46 pass from Perry (Browne rush)

Individual statistics

RUSHING: Shrewsbury — Jack Peters 9-26, T.J. Welch 5-14, Jacob Barranco 2-13, Matt Keddy 2-7, Cam Jenkins 2-(-2), William Porter 1-(-3), Jack O'Sullivan 8-(-5); St. John's Prep — Carson Browne 12-105, Stephon Patrick 1-9, Victor Harrington 1-8, Ryan Grenier 1-3, Dylan Aliberti 2-1, Jack Perry 2-(-11).

PASSING: Shrewsbury — Jack O'Sullivan 8-16-89-0-1; T.J. Welch 0-1-0-0-0; St. John's Prep — Jack Perry 7-11-161-2-0; Victor Harrington 3-4-34-0-0.

RECEIVING: Shrewsbury — Cameron Jenkins 4-32; Jack Peters 2-29; Brady Soldo 1-14; Matt Keddy 1-14; St. John's Prep —Jesse Ofurie 4-114; Santiago Quiceno 2-29; Jackson Delaney 1-18; Stephon Patrick 2-17; Mike Nabbout 1-12; Charlie Wilmot 1-5.

Contact Jean DePlacido @JeanDePlacidoSN