PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Making it through September unblemished is nice … but it’s only one step for the St. John’s Prep football team, even one as young and relatively inexperienced as this year’s squad is.
The Eagles are now 4-0 heading into their bye week after slogging their way past host La Salle Academy, 53-20, at Cimini Field in a penalty filled affair on a warm Saturday afternoon.
Putting up 531 yards of offense against the 17-time Rhode Island state champions while picking off three passes and recovering a fumble defensively added up to another successful day at the office … even though head coach Brian St. Pierre said there’s plenty for his team to work on with the calendar about to change to October.
“Am I pleased with where we’re at? Of course I am,” said St. Pierre, who now has 96 career wins at his alma mater in this, his 12th season in charge. “But am I satisfied? No, and neither are (the players) — and that’s a good thing. It’s a proper chip to have, a proper hunger to get better, because we know what’s coming up down the line.”
With 184 points scored in its first four contests, St. John’s Prep is averaging a mammoth 46 points a game. Should they play enough games to reach the Division 1 Super Bowl this season while maintaining that current scoring pace, the Eagles would finish the year with a mind-blowing 598 points scored.
“And I would push back and say it should be more,” said St. Pierre. “We’ve left some meat on the bone out there … on both sides of the ball, really. There’s a lot of room for improvement.
“I’m not down at all about how things have gone,” he added, “but I want us to continue taking the right steps.”
For the second time this season, the junior running back tandem of Jordan Toribio and Maxwell Parent both went over 100 yards rushing for the Eagles. The bruising Toribio bashed through the La Salle (2-2) line for 178 yards and a pair of touchdowns, coming from 2 and 25 yards out, respectively. He also cashed in on a pair of 2-point conversion rushes from the Prep’s ‘BFT’ goal line package.
Parent added 141 carries on 18 totes, breaking the plane from 3, 9 (out of the Wildcat) and 10 yards out. He also cashed in via the BFT, scoring twice and, on a fake, throwing a 2-point conversion pass to tight end Anthony Sanderson.
“We came out throwing the ball last week against Central Catholic), but as a lineman you want to come out and bang!,” said St. Pierre, pounding one fist into the other hand twice for emphasis. “Those guys up front could tell themselves, ‘This is our focus today; let’s go out and pound the ball. When you pile up over 300 yards on the ground, you’re doing your job up front.”
Sophomores Chris Vargas and Riley Selvais, the Eagles’ stellar quarterback and wide receiver, continued their assault on opposing defenses. Vargas calmly completed 13-of-19 passes for 190 yards and two scores. Both of those went to Selvais (8 catches, 141 yards), including a pretty 42-yard seam pass that saw him catch it in stride and sprint untouched into the Rams’ end zone, making it 24-6 in the first quarter. He later scored on a 10-yard swing pass.
Together, the Toribio-Parent-Selvais trio has already accounted for 1,275 yards of total offense and 19 scores. The nationally recruited Vargas is a cool 59-for-84 for 811 yards and eight touchdowns with just one pick through those same four games.
Parent plus seniors Bo Minogue at insise linebacker and Brian Norton all had interceptions for the victors.
“Bo’s a first-year starter and has been awesome in the run game, the pass game, he’s very physical and he can run,” said St. Pierre. “(Junior) Connor Quigley next to him at ILB, too. They’ve both been awesome.”
Still, there’s plenty of cleanup work for the Eagles to do before they enter the Catholic Conference fray starting Friday, Oct. 10 in Dorchester against host BC High. Perhaps most evident has been the pass defense, where La Salle quarterback Samuel Perry threw for 188 yards and three scores and ultra-athletic wideout Antonio Bearden caught two of those — including a leaping end zone grab where he palmed the ball with one hand —and finished with 121 receiving yards on a half-dozen receptions.
“We’re giving up too many yards; we need to tighten up,” said St. Pierre. “The coverage needs to be better. I’d like to see us tackle better; I’d like to see us cover better. I also hope we can get (wideout) Pierson Scala back; he’s a captain who hasn’t played a down yet for us this season due to injury, so getting him back in October would be great.
“It’s all about us working get better as a team, play our best ball in late October into November, staying as healthy as we can, and controlling what we can control.”
St. John’s Prep 53, La Salle, R.I. 20
at Cimini Stadium, Providence
St. John’s Prep (4-0);24;6;16;7;53
La Salle, R.I. (2-2);6;7;7;0;20
Scoring summary
SJP — Maxwell Parent 3 run (Parent rush)
LA — Jaden Givens 5 pass from Samuel Perry (pass failed)
SJP — Jordan Toribio 12 run (Toribio rush)
SJP — Riley Selvais 42 pass from Chris Vargas (Anthony Sanderson pass from Parent)
SJP — Selvais 10 pass from Vargas (rush failed)
LA — Antonio Bearden 16 pass from Perry (Quincy Marino kick)
SJP — Parent 9 run (Parent rush)
LA — Bearden 20 pass from Perry (Marino kick)
SJP — Parent 10 run (Toribio rush)
SJP — Toribio 25 run (Liam Cullen kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: St. John’s Prep — Jordan Toribio 17-178, Maxwell Parent 18-141, Jonathan Muniz 5-22, Jack Shrayer 1-4, Sam Josey 1-3, Chris Vargas 1-(-7); La Salle — Blaze Coogan 2-31, Angelo Gomez 3-23, Kobe Downing 5-11, Samuel Perry 2-8, Jonny Costa 3-8, Will Gomez 4-7, Brady Nardozzi 1-6, Jalen Moseley 1-6.
PASSING: St. John’s Prep — Vargas 13-19-190-2-1, John Budrow 0-1-0-0-0; La Salle — Perry 14-24-188-3-3.
RECEIVING: St. John’s Prep — Riley Selvais 8-141, Ethan Stefanovich 1-21, Brody Gillingham 1-16, Andrew McManmon 2-12, Shrayer 1-0; La Salle — Antonio Bearden 6-121, Moseley 3-33, Colin Howarth 2-29, Jaden Givens 1-5, Donald Young 1-5, Coogan 1-(-5).