DANVERS — This, folks, is why Chris Vargas is the nation’s No. 2 ranked quarterback in the Class of 2028, and why his classmate, Riley Selvais, is ranked the top wide receiver prospect in New England among all 10th graders.
Playing arguably the best games of their young St. John’s Prep football careers, the two sophomores sparkled as the Eagles came up with their cleats pushed fully down on the gas pedal from the first play on and rolled Central Catholic, 47-21, on a warm evening at Glatz Field.
Vargas, the easygoing 6-foot-4 signal caller with a rocket arm, completed 18-of-24 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns in one of the most impressive outings of his still-nascent 15-game varsity career. Selvais was equally as brilliant, catching eight passes for 145 yards and a pair of scores for the unbeaten Eagles.
“On film we saw there was some space for us to try and do that, so we decided to go to work early and attack, be aggressive,” said head coach Brian St. Pierre, who had Vargas throw on the game’s first four plays, resulting in a 28-yard touchdown pass on a post play to Ethan Stefanovich, and his team was literally off to the races.
“The BC coach (i.e., Boston College’s Bill O’Brien, a Prep alum) was here; that didn’t hurt (Vargas), either. I’m glad we got the ball in the air; I thought our receivers played really well.”
With the capability to score a lot of points in a short amount of time, St. John’s Prep (now 3-0) did that Friday against the Raiders. It was 22-0 after one quarter and 31-0 midway through the second. When it was 47-14 after three, Vargas, Selvais and the other starters came out and, per MIAA rules when one team holds a lead of 30 points or more, running time was used the rest of the way.
“I feel locked in every game, but sometimes we run more and sometimes we pass more. It just happened to be my turn tonight,” Vargas said modestly.
“I felt like the passing game was off the first two games, and I’m hard on myself,” he added. “But this game tonight I thought was pretty good.”
“Chris was sublime tonight,” added St. Pierre.
Selvais said a week of studying and working with Vargas on the practice field — not to mention the “great work of the scout team” getting the starters ready, led to Friday’s fireworks.
His two scores came as a result of a 46-yard fly pattern less than three minutes into the second quarter, then again in the third when he hauled in an absolute dart from Vargas from 17 yards away.
“We threw them off balance,” he said of the Central defense. “We had their guys backpedaling all night, which as a receiver is what you want. Teams have to have a lot of respect for an explosive offense like ours.”
Central Catholic (1-2) head coach John Sexton and his team were hoping to use the momentum of their Week 2 win at BC High (28-7) against their second straight Catholic Conference foe. It didn’t turn out the way that the visitors had hoped, though.
“I told Brian, ‘You guys gave us a real lesson tonight’,” Sexton said of his postgame on-field meeting with St. Pierre.
“It’s not at all what I expected coming in tonight. We didn’t tackle, we had two big turnovers that hurt us in the first half, we had some penalties … they all hurt us, and (the end result) is what happens.”
Stefanovich also reaped from Vargas’ throwing harvest, catching six passes for 76 yards and two scores, the second being a 12-yarder in the third quarter.
While the Prep running game churned out ‘only’ 79 yards, Jordan Toribio had a splash play in there with a 48-yard first quarter scoring run through a gaping hole between right guard Joe Irzyk and tackle Will Figulski. Maxwell Parent — who scored five 2-point conversion rushes on the evening — added a 4-yard TD scamper of his own.
Junior edge defender Owen Hawke fell on a Central fumble late in the first quarter off a kickoff return, leading to Parent’s touchdown. Parent then recovered a fumble of his own, with Vargas and Selvais hooking up for their 46-yard tuddy on the next play. Sophomore DJ Graham added an interception for the Eagles.
“If you put our offense in advantageous situations, it’s going to be a long night,” admitted St. Pierre.
The Eagles travel to Rhode Island next Saturday, where they’ll take on La Salle Academy in Providence.
St. John’s Prep 47, Central Catholic 21
at Glatz Field, Danvers
Central Catholic (1-2);0;7;7;7;21
St. John’s Prep (3-0);23;8;16;0;47
Scoring summary
SJP — Ethan Stefanovich 28 pass from Chris Vargas (Liam Cullen kick)
SJP — Jordan Toribio 48 run (Maxwell Parent rush)
SJP — Parent 4 run (Parent rush)
SJP — Riley Selvais 46 pass from Vargas (Parent rush)
CC — Jeremiah Mateo Mora 9 pass from Caden Smith (Ryan Hill kick)
SJP — Selvais 17 pass from Vargas (Parent rush)
CC — Drew O’Keefe 86 kickoff return (Hill kick)
SJP — Stefanovich 12 pass from Vargas (Parent rush)
CC — Caden Chase 5 run (Hill kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Central Catholic — Caden Chase 10-40, Caden Smith 8-36, Amari Mills 3-18, Anthony Garcia 1-4; St. John’s Prep — Jordan Toribio 6-63, Jonathan Muniz 4-12, Andrew McManmon 1-2, Maxwell Parent 7-2, Chris Vargas 1-0.
PASSING: Central Catholic — Smith 17-27-174-1-1; St. John’s Prep — Vargas 18-24-284-4-0; John Budrow 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Central Catholic — Chase 6-53, Drew O’Keefe 5-48, Athaniel Urena 2-35, Jeremiah Mateo Mora 2-27, Cal Schoenfeld 2-11; St. John’s Prep — Riley Selvais 8-145, Ethan Stefanovich 5-76, Toribio 1-25, Parent 2-25, McManmon 1-7, Brody Gillingham 1-6.