Pope John pulls out all the stops

Romario Berneche lands in the arms P.J. Robinson as Pope John celebrates its Catholic Central Small title. (JOSH REYNOLDS/FOR THE GLOBE)

CHELSEA - With the Catholic Central Small title on the line yesterday, the Pope John defense held the line, making two huge stops in a 22-13 victory over Marian.

The defense made its first important stop on the first series of the second half. Clinging to a 14-7 lead, the Tigers defense lined up at its 3-yard line, the Mustangs facing third and goal after driving 60 yards following the second half kickoff. Pope John (7-2, 5-0) held the Mustangs to a gain of 1 yard. An end around on fourth down resulted in the Mustangs losing a yard and the Tigers maintaining the lead.

"We bent a little bit but we didn't break," Pope John coach Chris Buckley said. "That's the name of the game."

With time running down, Pope John's defense came up with another big stop.

Marian (7-2, 5-1) closed the gap to 22-13 with 3:53 to play when quarterback Tim Gazard hit Miguel Ortiz for a 10-yard touchdown. The Mustangs came out in a five-receiver set with an empty backfield for the two-point conversion attempt. The Tiger blitz gave Gazard no time to find an open target. His completed pass was well short of the goal line, and with little time remaining Marian was still down by two scores.

When the Mustang onside kick went out of bounds, Pope John took over and fed the ball to standout running back Brian Alessandro, whose powerful running helped Pope John run out the clock.

Alessandro finished with 213 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. The former Savio Prep star consistently moved the pile on runs up the middle and broke through arm tackles.

"I just didn't want this to be my last high school football game," Alessandro said. "I didn't want it to end here; I wanted to go to the playoffs.""

Alessandro scored Pope John's first touchdown on a 6-yard run in the first quarter, but Marian responded on their next possession with a 1-yard touchdown run by Mike Koczwara on third and goal to take a 7-6 lead.

But Pope John took the lead for good with 41 seconds left in the half when quarterback Brett Mayo hit 6-foot-4-inch wide receiver Rey Torres on a fade from 10 yards out. Alessandro ran for the conversion to give Pope John a 14-7 lead before the break.

Alessandro's powerful running gave Torres more room to get open. The tall wideout caught his second touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, a spectacular one-handed grab on another fade from 15 yards out. With the ball sailing high toward the right corner of the end zone, Torres jumped and grabbed the ball with his right hand, securing it before landing on his back. A penalty for defensive pass interference was declined by Pope John.

"I just saw the ball and I knew I could go up and get it," Torres said. "I'm a basketball player too."

"He's been doing that all year long," Buckley said. "He's a tremendous player. We don't throw it that often but he's there when we need him."

Pope John, which lost two in a row to start the season, will play the winner of the Mayflower Small, which will be decided when West Bridgewater plays Holbrook for the title on Thanksgiving.