No. 1 Xaverian has been the gold standard of Eastern Mass. football this year, while St. John’s (Shrewsbury) has ruled the gridiron outside Route 495.

The Hawks (8-0) were not hospitable to St. John’s, however, crushing the Pioneers, 42-14.

“We thought it would be a little tighter,’’ said running back Joe Colton, who ran wild on a suspect St. John’s run defense and scored two of Xaverian’s six touchdowns.

The Hawks jumped out to a surprisingly quick 21-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on each of their first three drives.

Colton, who returned the opening kickoff 43 yards, accounted for 90 of Xaverian’s 96 yards on its first possession. His most impressive run was a 23-yard touchdown, when the 5-10, 180-pound junior ran over and through defenders.

“Joey did a great job, really ran hard,’’ said Xaverian coach Charlie Stevenson. “He made great plays on offense and defense (covering 6-4 receiver Richard Rogers.)’’

More strong special team play coupled with great defense gave Xaverian favorable field position again, and Chris Tamasi took advantage, scoring from 54 yards out on the drive’s first play.

Mike Muir’s interception of a Griffin Murphy pass gave the home team the ball at midfield with a chance to break the game open early. Four plays later, Alex Phelan connected with Steve Warren for an 11-yard touchdown. The third of six Jules Murphy extra-points made it 21-0.

“Alex just executed the offense to perfection,’’ said Stevenson, praising Phelan’s ability to audible into favorable situations and matchups. “He has great instincts for the game.’’

St. John’s finally got on the board on a drive anchored by Murphy. The quarterback, who accounted for all 64 yards on the drive, threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Christian Dulmaine on fourth-and-eight, but the 14-point gap was the closest the Pioneers would get.

Colton picked up the defense on the next drive, scoring from 19 yards out. While he never reached the end zone after that, his role in the offense’s game of keep-away was vital, chewing up yards and getting key first downs.

Xaverian made its only mistake of the day, fumbling in St. John’s territory. The usually high-powered Pioneer offense stalled again, however, and the Hawks jumped back on the attack.

Phelan hooked up with Warren in the end zone for the second time, this one from 17 yards away, granting the Hawks a 35-7 halftime lead.

“We came out slow against Brockton and Everett,’’ said Colton. “This whole week we were saying how we wanted to come out and play a whole game against them. We definitely did that.’’

The Pioneers showed some life coming out of halftime and Murphy threw his 22d touchdown pass of the year to Dan Light to conclude a 10-play drive that featured a successful fourth-and-six conversion.

Phelan concluded the scoring, following up a 52-yard scramble with an 8-yard run, refusing to be denied as he muscled his way into the end zone.

“We have Phelan, that’s such an advantage,’’ said Colton. “He’s so smart. He can make all the pre-snap reads and plays.’’

The convincing win ended a challenging nonleague slate of games for Xaverian, which included back-to-back wins over unbeaten teams. The Hawks have three games left, all against Catholic Conference opponents. Xaverian travels to BC High Friday, where a win will put them one step closer to the conference title and a spot in the Division 1 playoffs.