A mere nine points was all that separated two of the state’s perennial heavyweights this year on the gridiron. But unfortunately, this year that margin of difference belonged to the Xaverian Hawks, who defeated their rivals from St. John’s Prep twice in a nine-day span to take home the 2025 Division 1 Super Bowl championship.
The Eagles lost the Thanksgiving Day battle to the host Hawks by a mere three points, 21-18. The rematch last Saturday night at Gillette Stadium wasn’t much better, when Xaverian was able to hang on to win the state title game, 41-35.
By all accounts, it was another fine season for coach Brian St. Pierre’s team. Finishing up with an 11-2 record is nothing to be ashamed of, but these Eagles always have just one goal in mind each year, and that’s to carry the Harry Agganis state championship trophy back to their Danvers campus. They defeated everybody this fall, except for rival Xaverian, and those two games could have gone either way.
The good news coming out of Saturday’s loss to Xaverian is that the sophomore quarterback/wide receiver combination will be back next fall to light up the St. John’s Prep scoreboard, once again.
Highly-touted sophomore signal caller Chris Vargas was supposed to be on the sidelines for the Super Bowl game after sustaining a knee injury early in the playoffs, but he was back in there for the rematch with the Hawks, and nearly pulled off a thrilling comeback victory.
Marblehead’s Riley Selvais, his go-to target all season long, caught three passes from him on Saturday night for 81 yards, and one of those aerials accounted for a 48-yard first quarter touchdown.
Trailing 27-7 at halftime, Selvais gave his teammates an immediate lift by running the opening second half kickoff back 80 yards for another touchdown to cut the Xaverian lead in half, 27-14.
The Eagles went on to outscore Xaverian from that point on, 21-14, only to fall six points short of their intended goal.
Prior to the Super Bowl game, St. Pierre had this to say about his star wide receiver from Marblehead: “His numbers speak for themselves,” said the Prep coach, who just completed his 12th season along the sidelines. “Riley has set the single season record for receptions and yards. But his greatest attribute, and he has many, is his competitive nature. Riley loves to compete. He combines that with being a gifted route runner, who is very strong (gaining additional yards) after each catch. His football awareness is exceptional. There are not enough superlatives to say about Riley Selvais. To top it all off, he is a great teammate, who is universally respected and liked within our locker room. Just an A+ individual.”
Season in brief
The top-seeded Eagles advanced to the Division 1 state semifinals for the seventh year in a row, before dispatching Central Catholic, 48-7, to reach the title game for the fifth time in that span. The key driver: an offense that had outscored opponents 400-153 after 11 games.
Prior to sustaining an apparent season-ending knee injury, sophomore quarterback Chris Vargas orchestrated the attack, completing 70 percent of his passes for 1,866 yards and 21 touchdowns with just one interception.
But senior quarterback John Budrow capably stepped in to spark a 48-32 win over Leominster in the quarterfinals (Elite 8) behind a school-record 354 rushing yards. It included five TDs by junior running back Maxwell Parent (1,183 yards, 14 TDs). Classmate Jordan Toribio (1,176 yards, 20 TDs) also did his part to bookend the Prep’s ground game, while sophomore receiver Riley Selvais (52 receptions, 1,053 yards, 12 touchdowns) anchored the air attack.
St. John’s often stifling defense has been led by senior linebacker Bo Minogue, senior defensive lineman Chibueze Anasiudu and junior linebacker Connor Quigley.
