Marblehead’s football team was eliminated from the MIAA Division 4 state tournament Friday, while St. John’s Prep punched its Division 1 semifinals ticket the same night.
Canton (8-2) advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history with a 27-22 win against the Magicians (7-3). Better yet for Bulldogs’ fans, the home victory came in comeback fashion.
The Magicians jumped on the hosts right away. Armany Villar returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown before Finn Gallup’s rushing score put Marblehead ahead 14-0 during the first quarter.
But Marblehead didn’t score again until a safety in the fourth quarter. Gallup connected with Breydan Callahan through the air to make it 27-22 with less than three minutes to go.
With nationally-recruited quarterback Chris Vargas sidelined with an injury, one might’ve expected a run-heavy offense from St. John’s Prep.
Running back Maxwell Parent obliged. The St. Mary’s (Lynn) transfer carried 30 times for 355 yards and five touchdowns as the top-ranked Eagles (10-0) defeated No. 8 Leominster 48-32 at Glatz Field.
The Division 1 Round of 8 showdown started with a scare for The Prep. Leominster quarterback Osiris Lopez threw a 35-yard touchdown for the game’s first score (6-0).
After Eagles touchdowns from Parent and Jordan Toribio, Lopez answered with a 5-yard rushing score before throwing another touchdown late in the first half.
St. John’s Prep trailed 20-16 at halftime — a rarity for the fans in Danvers.
That said, the second half was the Parent show. With his four second-half touchdowns behind a stellar offensive line, the Eagles jumped ahead by 22 points (48-26).
Next up for St. John’s Prep is a semifinal showdown against No. 5 Central Catholic (Friday 6 p.m.) at Burlington High.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Meet of Champions was held at Fort Devens Saturday with Division 1, 2, and 3 programs racing for statewide glory.
In Division 1, St. John’s Prep was led by John (Jack) McIntosh, who delivered a time of 16:15.06 as the Eagles finished sixth with 231 points.
Moving on to Division 2, the Marblehead boys finished eighth behind Henrik Adams (31st – 16:58.38) and Will Cruikshank (35th – 17:05.09). The girls placed seventh with Marrietta O’Connell (9th – 19:12.58) securing a top-10 finish. Teammate Sarah Munroe (13th – 19:22.19) impressed as well.
Statewide results can be found at https://www.athletic.net/
