DANVERS — The No. 7 St. John’s Prep football team and coach Brian St. Pierre know they have a tough schedule ahead of them with some inexperienced players. Saturday afternoon the road began with a thrilling 33-29 victory against No. 12 Haverhill.
“Our inexperience showed big time’’ St. Pierre said. “But we found a way, that’s what is most important.’’
Trailing, 29-26, late in the fourth quarter, Eagles junior Mike Yarin, who was starting at QB for the first time, handed the ball to sophomore Aise Pream, who was playing in his first varsity game.
The 5-foot-6-inch, 135-pound tailback weaved around the defense and took the ball 27 yards into the end zone to give St. John’s Prep the lead.
Pream also had a 52-yard fumble return for a score early in the fourth quarter that changed the momentum of the game.
“The little man made some plans today. [Pream] is an electric kid and he is ultra competitive,’’ said St. Pierre.
Haverhill (0-1) got the scoring started midway through the first quarter when senior quarterback Broghean McGovern scampered into the end zone from 10 yards. The Hillies missed the extra point.
On St. John’s Prep’s first drive in the second quarter, they evened things at 6 on a beautifully thrown 65-yard pass from Yarin to senior wideout Hayden Rockett.
On the Eagles’ next possession Yarin would fall in love a bit too much in targeting Rockett and Haverhill senior cornerback Jukka Morales made him pay. Morales intercepted the pass and brought it back 55 yards for a touchdown.
Yarin made up for the mistake and drove the Eagles down the field to punch it in for a 1-yard run right before the half. The extra point was blocked and Haverhill had a slim 13-12 advantage at the half.
The Hillies went up by 9 on the opening drive of the second half when senior Jean-Charles Laguerre dashed 27 yards to paydirt and a 2-point conversion pass to Morales was successful.
St. John’s Prep (1-0) brought it back to within 1 late in the third quarter as Yarin found senior Cam Weaver for a 20-yard touchdown on third-and-5 and then hit senior Burt Declan for the 2-point try.
Haverhill was pushing the ball upfield the following possession until Laguerre coughed the ball up and Pream was able to scoop it into his arms in stride and no one was catching him.
The Eagles held the Hillies to a three-and-out on their next drive, but on the punt senior Joe Masterson let the ball slip through his hands and Haverhill’s senior Ivan DeLaRosa jumped on it at the 15-yard line.
Five plays later Laguerre muscled his way in the end zone from 4 yards out.
But Yarin and Pream had one more drive left, leading the Eagles 75 yards for the go-ahead score.
McGovern tried to lead a comeback of his own and a 30-yard completion to senior Aaron Brooks on fourth and 5 almost allowed him to do that. But on fourth and 10 at the Prep 25, and under 30 seconds left to go, McGovern’s pass down the middle of the field fell incomplete.
The Eagles will play at home against Central Catholic next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. while Haverhill will travel to North Andover for a 7 p.m. game on Friday.
Karl Capen can be reached at karl.capen@globe.com.
