The shortened season was a little shorter than Catholic Memorial would have liked, but the Knights refused to be deterred.
They accepted the challenges from the likes of St. John’s (Shrewsbury), BC High and St. John’s Prep, winning all three by at least 25 points. They held off a spirited battle against No. 3 Xaverian to capture the Catholic Conference title.
As a result, the Boys of Baker Street ended the season ranked No. 1 for the first time since the Sweet 16 began in 1993. They are the fourth different Catholic Conference to end the season with the No. 1 ranking since 2008.
“We just took things day by day and just hoped to get through the season,” said Catholic Memorial coach John DiBiaso. “If you had told me months ago, I didn’t think we could get through it, but everyone remained positive.”
The Knights showed some resilience as the injury bug struck early and often. They never had the services of standout safety Will Stockwell and running back Shiloh White, lost quarterback J.C. Petrongolo to a season-ending injury in the opener and didn’t have running backs Darrius LeClair and Datrell Jones at times.
“To do what we did, playing in the league we play in says a lot for the kids we have.” DiBiaso said. “They really had to overcome a lot and they did it.”
If there was a silver lining for Catholic Memorial, it came in the fact they survived using a lot of inexperienced players.
“Those younger kids stepped up and played well,” DiBiaso said. “A lot of those kids might not have been playing, but this is going to help us next year.”
Merrimack Valley Conference champion Central Catholic went undefeated and ended the season ranked No. 2. Xaverian was the only team to challenge Catholic Memorial and ended the season at No. 3.
“People don’t realize the job (Xaverian coach) Al Fornaro did with that team, that was a hell of a turnaround,” DiBiaso said. “They’re always well-coached and I’ve known that going back to the days when we played them while I was at Everett. We always like playing Xaverian because there’s no cheap shots, no personal fouls or things like that.”
FINAL SWEET 16
1. Catholic Memorial (4-0): Knights end the season atop the Sweet 16 for the first time.
2. Central Catholic (7-0): Ayden Pereira leads a solid group of returning players for the Raiders.
3. Xaverian (5-1): Fantastic turnaround by the Hawks, going from 4-7 to eight yards away from winning the Catholic Conference title.
4. Mansfield (6-0): Defense rose to the challenge against a solid Marshfield team.
5. Lincoln-Sudbury (7-0): Warriors capped off a great season with a dominant effort against previously unbeaten Reading.
6. Natick (5-0): Won’t be easy replacing standouts such as Will Lederman and Jalyn Aponte.
7. Melrose (6-0): A second straight undefeated season for the Red Raiders.
8. Reading (6-1): Disappointing ending can’t take away from a successful season overall.
9. Brockton (4-1): Southeast Conference champs enter the 2021 preseason with a big hole at quarterback.
10. Marblehead (7-0): Storybook season ended with a big win over their Thanksgiving Day rivals from Swampscott.
11. Andover (5-2): Good foundation returning for the Golden Warriors.
12. North Attleboro (6-0): Nice turnaround from 2019 for the Red Rocketeers.
13. Acton-Boxboro (5-1): Colonials were the only team to give Lincoln-Sudbury a battle during the season.
14. Bridgewater-Raynham (4-1): We can only hope Hall of Fame coach Dan Buron makes his retirement plans a short-term deal.
15. Lowell (5-2): Five straight wins to end a productive first season for head coach Rob Pike.
16. Bishop Fenwick (6-0): Dominant run through the schedule for David Woods’ high-flying Crusaders.
ON THE BENCH: Duxbury (3-0), Marshfield (3-1), BC High (2-3), Milford (5-2), Methuen (5-2), St. John’s Prep (3-4), Stoughton (5-2), Tewksbury (5-2), Milton (5-1), Barnstable (3-0), Middleboro (5-1), Peabody (5-1), Plymouth South (5-1), Ipswich (6-0).
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Danny Ventura’s high school football Sweet 16 - Boston Herald
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