DANVERS — Three months from now, when the final chapter has been written on the 2025 high school football season in Massachusetts, it may very well be that the Game of the Year took place on opening weekend.
A capacity crowd that walked away from Glatz Field Friday night certainly had to feel that way after watching two heavyweight programs throw haymakers at each other for 48 minutes … with the hometown favorite getting in the final, and most lethal two punches, with just seven seconds remaining.
St. John’s Prep running back Jordan Toribio scored on a 2-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat on fourth down, then took it again out of the ‘Cat on the 2-point conversion rush and scored around right end, giving the Eagles a palpitating 36-35 triumph over Springfield Central in the season opener for both.
“This feeling is amazing,” said the 16-year-old Toribio, who ran for 189 yards on a game-best 26 carries and scored twice. “We work every single day to be consistent and get after it.”
Brian St. Pierre, the Prep head coach, asked how much the school charged fans to get into home games, saying whatever it was, they certainly got their money’s worth on this evening.
“The magnitude of the game, when you have two programs like this going head to head, it’s just a different level,” said St. Pierre, whose team finished with a whopping 29 first down. “Week 1, Week 4, Week 8, the playoffs, a Super Bowl … whenever we play each other, it’s going to be a great game.
“But the fact that this was opening night at home and I found out about a young, inexperienced team that they have some grit and intestinal fortitude, that was terrific to see.”
Like a compelling TV drama that keeps its viewers glued to their screens, this heart-pounding gridiron battle featured a boatload of storylines that could’ve ultimately swung the contest in either team’s favor for good.
The host Eagles started five offensive linemen and a tight end who had a grand total of five previous varsity starts between them. But you never would’ve known it the way they opened holes and pushed back a beefy Central defensive front, allowing both Toribio and junior newcomer Maxwell Parent (141) to each rush for triple digits and score two touchdowns apiece. All told this green group up front allowed St. John’s to rush for 341 yards (7.75 yards per carry) against one of the state’s best teams.
“My boys up front put in the work all offseason,” said Toribio. “I’d see them grinding in the weight room to get ready for this moment.”
An 18-play, 90-yard drive that took eight minutes and 58 seconds off the clock in the second quarter was classic Prep, hammering away at an opponent behind the continual 1-2 punch of Toribio and Parent while driving the defense back on its heels.
Sophomore Chris Vargas, a 5-star national recruit who is the No. 2 ranked quarterback prospect in the Class of 2028, didn’t have gaudy stats (10-for-18 passing for 74 yards and a TD), but showed wisdom beyond his years by leaning into the running game and, when the situation called for him to go to the air, he put the ball on the money.
“We watch the line of scrimmage and put a premium on that,” said St. Pierre of his 6-foot-4 signal caller, “but Chris saw what was happening, too. He’d come over to me (in between offensive plays) and say, ‘Coach, they’re getting tired and beat up up front.’ He’s unselfish like that. He’s not stat-driven; I’m not stat-driven and we’re not stat-driven as a team. We’re success-driven, team-driven. But when we needed Chris to make some big plays, he did. He has special ability.”
Vargas’ fourth quarter touchdown pass to fellow sophomore (and also heavily recruited) wideout Riley Selvais, which tipped off a defensive back’s fingers before fallling into Selvais’, cut the Prep deficit to 35-28 early in the fourth quarter.
St. Pierre called inside linebacker Bo Minogue “our best defensive player on the field” for his hard-hitting ability and nose for bringing down tacklers. New placekicker Liam Cullen, a sophomore, drilled all four of his extra point attempts cleanly as well.
Springfield Central had plenty of its own success on this evening. Quarterback Jareth Staine caused all kinds of problems for St. John’s Prep, scrambling out of the pocket and finding open receivers on the run with a cannon arm. He threw for 340 yards on 17-of-26 passing, with teammates Isaiah Rogers (128) and Kodi Massey (107) breaking the century mark on the receiving end.
Rogers was a particular thorn in the side of the hosts out of the Springfield backfield. He caught a 23-yard touchdown pass on a first quarter wheel route, found himself wide open on a broken play on his team’s next series for a 57-yard score, and ran a touchdown in from three yards out.
The Golden Eagles also went into halftime with a 29-21 lead on an absolutely wacky play. Going for a field goal on the final play of the second quarter, Jacoby McCoy instead drilled it into the back of one of his linemen’s legs. The Prep defense, thinking the play was dead, began celebrating and headed off the field towards the locker room. But Springfield’s Adrian Blackwell alertly picked up the football, realizing no official had whistled the play dead, and took off for the end zone for a most unusual touchdown.
It was 13-7 Golden Eagles after one quarter and the aforementioned eight-point lead at the break. It remained 29-21 before Staine’s 9-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter made it a 14-point lead for the Western Mass. powerhouse.
That’s when made the most of its last two drives, going a combined 143 yards over 16 plays and piling up 10 first downs en route to hitting paydirt twice.
“This was a sign,” said Toribio, “to let people know we aren’t going anywhere.”
St. John’s Prep 36, Springfield Cathedral 35
at Fred Glatz Field, Danvers
Springfield Central (0-1);13;16;0;6;35
St. John’s Prep (1-0);7;14;0;15;36
Scoring summary
SC — Isaiah Rogers 23 pass from Jareth Staine (kick blocked)
SJP — Jordan Toribio 15 run (Liam Cullen kick)
SC — Rogers 57 pass from Staine (Jacoby McCoy kick)
SJP — Maxwell Parent 7 run (Cullen kick)
SC — Rogers 3 run (Kodi Massey pass from Staine)
SJP — Parent 11 run (Cullen kick)
SC — Adrian Blackwell fumble recovery after blocked field goal (Massey from Steine)
SC — Staine 9 run (kick blocked)
SJP — Riley Selvais 12 pass from Chris Vargas (Cullen kick)
SJP — Toribio 2 run (Toribio rush)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Springfield Central — Isaiah Rogers 16-47, Jareth Staine 5-8, Ackeem White 6-5; St. John’s Prep — Jordan Toribio 26-189, Maxwell Parent 21-141, Chris Vargas 2-11.
PASSING: Springfield Central — Staine 17-26-340-2-1; St. John’s Prep — Vargas 10-18-74-1-0.
RECEIVING: Springfield Central — Rogers 7-128, Kodi Massey 4-107, Connor Foley 3-38, White 1-31, Adrian Blakwell 1-23, Frankie Torres 1-13; St. John’s Prep — Riley Selvais 4-34, Jack Shrayer 2-28, Dayvian Sullivan 1-5, Andrew McManmon 1-4, Ethan Stefanovich 1-4.