An incredibly talented St. John's Prep 1997 football dream team — that USA Today ranked in the top 25 in the entire country — had a perfect 11-0 season, culminating with a dominant 25-0 Super Bowl victory over New Bedford at Boston University's Nickerson Field.
Most of the Prep's games that season weren't close, but they knew they were in for a dogfight when archrival Xaverian came to Cronin Field on a windy Thanksgiving morning. The stakes were exceptionally high for both teams — the Catholic Conference title, an undefeated season and a trip to the Division 1A Super Bowl hung in the balance.
A crowd of over 10,000 fans flocked to Cronin Stadium, filling the bleachers and stood on the hillside 10 or 12 deep to witness that classic battle. Years later many still talk about the one for the ages when Prep QB Brian St. Pierre of Danvers engineered a 15-14 victory for the host Eagles. "Saint" raced around the end for a TD and 1,100 yard rusher Brian Lentz of Manchester barreled into the end zone for the two-point conversion to win the game.
"We had a nice mix of outstanding seniors that season along with juniors like Andy St. Pierre, Alan Rich and Ryan Leahy," said Prep coach Jim O'Leary. "I rank that team right up at the top of any I have coached, along with our 1991 and 2001 teams. teams.
"After that great game on Thanksgiving the Super Bowl was almost anti-climactic. What made is so special is that Xaverian had several that went on to have great college careers and a couple made the pros, too."
Two of the Prep captains went on to play in the NFL. St. Pierre, who was a member of the Steelers from 2003-04, had a brief stint with Baltimore before returning to Pittsburgh for 2006-07, is currently a member of the Arizona Cardinals. Wayne Lucier went on to star at Colorado and was drafted by the New York Giants in the seventh round (No. 249). The guard/center played three seasons for the Giants. Fellow captains Zach Magliaro of Beverly went on to captain UMaine and led his team deep into the playoffs while Lentz, was an All Ivy League catcher at Harvard. Lentz, senior tight end Jeff Mackor, and Leahy all went on to sign pro baseball contracts and play in the minors.
