St. John's Prep Won on the Ground, Not on Its Star Quarterback
Maxwell Parent carried 26 times for 220 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-35 win that clinched the Catholic Conference and the No. 1 seed in Division 1.
By James Okafor
· 1 min read
The attention around St. John's Prep football belongs to junior quarterback Chris Vargas, an Ohio State commit. The Eagles' 42-35 win at Catholic Memorial on October 30 argues for a different reading of why they finished the regular season 8-0.
Vargas was efficient — 12-for-21 for 203 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, according to the Boston Globe — but the game turned on what the Eagles could do without asking him to force anything. Senior running back Maxwell Parent carried 26 times for 220 yards and two scores, and when the perfect season was on the line, St. John's Prep ran him six consecutive times on an 87-yard drive that ended with his 2-yard touchdown with 27 seconds remaining.
That is a coaching decision as much as a personnel one. Parent had fumbled early in the fourth quarter. Giving him the ball six straight times after that, against a No. 3 team that had answered every Eagles push, is the kind of choice that only works when the offensive line and the back are trusted equally.
The Eagles clinched the Catholic Conference outright and the No. 1 seed in Division 1. Defenses planning for Vargas in the playoffs have been given fair warning about who else to account for.
This story was first reported by The Boston Globe.
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