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DANVERS, Mass. – They say if you give a man an inch, he’ll take a mile.

If you give John DiBiaso a bye week, well, that doesn’t bode well for the opposing football team.

Following a lackluster 20-8 loss to Xaverian at home two weekends ago, No. 4 Everett got back to basics in its one-week reprieve. The Crimson Tide’s week spent tidying up their messy performance in the former week showed in Saturday’s matinee duel against another Catholic Conference power in No. 3 St. John’s Prep.

First order of business? Shutting down, or at least, slowing down, the state’s most feared rusher in Johnny Thomas.

Second? Getting in a time machine and going back to the future with a refigured offense, shunning the spread, which found success in recent years, in favor of a vintage Everett staple — the flexbone.

It all was there in the Crimson Tide’s emphatic 35-14 win.

So did their head coach spend the week off pouring over old game plans and film, trying to unearth old gems?

“It wouldn’t say it was homework so much as it was a lot of practice,” DiBiaso said. “We practiced very hard.”

DiBiaso was less than amused with his team’s level of execution following the loss to Xaverian, so one can imagine the vigorous tenor of the Crimson Tide’s practices in the week since we saw them last.

Also, Everett (2-1) received an addition shot in the arm in the form of a new addition – senior running back/linebacker Isaiah Davis.

Davis, who previously suited up for Lynn English, was granted a waiver last week allowing the 5-foot-9, 180-pounder to see his first game action of the season with the Crimson Tide. He had an immediate impact, first scoring on a 15-yard run for a 7-0 first-quarter lead. Then, after Everett recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Davis ran for his second score from 2 yards out.

“I can’t be more happy for him, he’s been waiting patiently for his opportunity,” DiBiaso said. “He got it and he came up very big. He played fantastic and I think he put himself on the map among the elite players in the state.”

The Crimson Tide amassed a three-score lead by early in the second quarter, after Joe D’Onofrio’s 2-yard touchdown run.

But Prep (2-2) countered, making it a two-possession again before the half was out.

Running their two-minute drill, the Eagles drove 74 yards in two minutes even to set up Mike Geaslen’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Owen Rockett on the final play of the half. The game clock had nearly expired before Prep got the snap off, with Geaslen lofting a fade over the head of the defense on a schoolyard-ball type play.

The Eagles whittled the lead down to a touchdown in the fourth, with backup running back Cody Harwood running for a 4-yard touchdown with 9:32 to play.

Harwood entered the game after Thomas, a preseason All-Stater and early season Mr. Football favorite, left the game to a right knee injury.

But Everett would not be denied. Following Harwood’s score, the Crimson Tide chewed up 64 yards on three plays with quarterback Raheem Wingard selling the option and zooming up the left sideline 25 yards for a 28-14 lead with less than eight minutes remaining.

The Eagles’ final two drives ended in a Crimson Tide fumble recovery and turnover downs, respectively, before D’Onofrio iced it with his second rushing touchdown of the game.

“We just can’t spot them points, I don’t care how good you are – not against them,” Prep head coach Jim O’Leary said. “It was very similar to the [Bridgewater-Raynham] game. The second half, we made mistakes and the ball didn’t bounce our way.

“There was no magic involved. They played well, they had a bye week and they coached them up.”

Greater cause for concern: Thomas, a Maryland commit, left the game after a late third-quarter carry.

While attempting to cut to the sideline, the senior was met by duo of Everett tacklers and driven to the turf. After being attended to by trainers, Thomas walked off the field under his own power, but with staff members flanking him under each arm. He did not return.

Postgame, O’Leary said Thomas was examined by the doctor on hand, but didn’t want to speculate to the injury’s long-term severity, pending an MRI.

“We’re not going to play with 10 guys,” O’Leary added. “We’re going to play with 11 next week and, hopefully, we get him back.”

The concern over Thomas’ injury wasn’t exclusive to Prep’s sideline.

“He’s a great back,” DiBiaso said. “He got a lot of good yards and our prayers are with him. We hope it’s nothing serious.”

Grounding the Eagles: As was after Thomas’ injury, great attention was paid to the Prep back, who accounted for 86 yards on 17 carries in the first half alone, in the lead up to Saturday’s game.

With two weeks to game plan against the Eagles’ ground game, DiBiaso again mixed things up.

Josh Palmer, a 5-foot-9, 205-pound defensive tackle, was moved back to linebacker, joining an already stout corps. The move allowed the Crimson Tide to play a 3-5 base, at times stacking all 11 players in the box, in hopes of neutralizing the state’s top running talent.

“We recognize [Thomas is] the best player in the state and we were going to try to mold our defense to try to force them into doing other things to beat us,” DiBiaso said. “We put Josh [Palmer] back at linebacker with Angel [Duarte], C.J. [Parvelus] and Lubern [Figaro] and Isaiah [Davis] shadowing [Thomas] the whole game.

Of course, a plan is just that. Without players versatile enough to plug into the system, it falls flat.

“He’s just an athlete, he can play anywhere,” Duarte said of Palmer joining the ranks of the LBs. “He’s got the speed, he’s big. We put him out there anywhere and he did a great job for us.”

The Times They Are A-Changin’: After watching his son, Jonathan, break multiple state passing records during his career with the Crimson Tide, Everett’s offensive groupings have steadily morphed in the last two years.

It’s not anything new, but Saturday might have marked an unofficial return to the good ole days. DiBiaso reflected on his new-look, old-feel offense.

“You’re a stupid coach if you do something that your personnel isn’t equipped to execute. We’ve run the spread successfully for about four years, but our personnel is more fit for this.

“We have three good running backs and an option-style quarterback, so shame on me for not doing it earlier.”

With Davis, D’Onofrio and fullback Marquis Holman holding it down in the backfield, the Crimson Tide has tried to strike balance on offense.

Wingard made two big connections to Lukas Denis (2 passes defended on defense, as well), helping to set up two touchdown drives.

“He made two good catches on play-action passes, and if you’re going to run that offense, you have to hit on play-actions,” DiBiaso said of Denis.

Of course, there’s still room for improvement though: “I think we did a decent job. We’ve only been running it for two weeks, so hopefully we’ll get even better as weeks go on.”

EVERETT, Mass. – One would have thought Xaverian’s offense would be behind the 8-ball entering Friday night’s showdown with No. 1 Everett. Without starting running back (and linebacker) Shayne Kaminski in the lineup, lost to a leg injury suffered during a scrimmage last week, the Hawks were playing without perhaps their best athlete.

No sweat.

Junior quarterback Jake Farrell was nearly perfect in the passing game, while junior Noah Sorrento (15 carries, 98 yards) picked up the slack in the backfield as the No. 14 Hawks surged past the top-ranked Crimson Tide during the second half in a 20-8 win.

With the victory, Xaverian (1-0) ended Everett’s 10-game winning streak against Catholic Conference foes and, in the process, started 2013with bang for a squad coming of a sub-.500 2012 campaign.

“It’s a huge statement for everybody on our team,” said Farrell, who started the game going 9-for-9 in completions, a streak extending into the third quarter. “We showed we can beat one of the elite teams in Massachusetts, and people are going to know about this.”

Sorrento, who worked in two-back sets with Kaminski throughout the preseason, set the Hawks off in the right direction with a 12-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Xaverian would maintain the 7-0 lead until 4:13 remaining in the half, when Everett quarterback Raheem Wingard (149 rushing yards) broke off a 29-yard touchdown on an option keeper. Although the point-after try was blocked, an offsides penalty against Xaverian gave the Crimson Tide (1-1) another crack. Another yard closer, Marquis Holman ran in the 2-point conversion over left guard.

The scoring drive was enabled by a fourth-down stand by Everett’s defense at their 40-yard line.

The Crimson Tide’s one-point lead stood until the fourth quarter, when another crucial fourth-down decision from the Xaverian sideline would come into play.

Facing a fourth-and-11 at the Everett 25, and with a little more than eight minutes remaining, the Hawks broke huddle looking for something special. When the play broke down around Farrell, he improvised and took off toward the end zone. Twenty-five yards later, the first-year starter scored what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown.

After the Hawks defense came away with another key fourth-down stop on the ensuing Everett possession, Farrell capped his evening with a perfectly thrown 23-yard fade to D.J. Sperzel for an insurance strike.

“It was just reading the quarterback,” Sperzel said. “I knew I had the receiver in front of me and broke on the ball.”

“We felt like that was the time to take a shot,” Hawks head coach Charlie Stevenson said. “He went up and got it, and Jake put it right where he needed to.”

For added measure, Sperzel closed out the special evening with an interception of Wingard on the following drive.

Shuffling the deck: While Kaminski’s absence forced Stevenson to alter his offensive game plan, the Hawks still played to their strengths.

“We lose a lot of firepower without Kaminski in the backfield,” Steveson added. “But I thought Noah Sorrento did an unbelievable job.”

Also key to the victory was the play of Xaverian’s offensive line. Anchored by senior captain Jeff Perez, the line created holes ample for any running back to walk through.

“If we block like that and Shayne’s with us, I think we’ll be OK as we go forward,” Stevenson said.

They also drew rave reviews from their quarterback.

“The O-line was excellent,” Farrell said. “I had a ton of time to throw and the receivers just ran good routes. They made it easy for me.”

Work in progress: Meanwhile, after a sloppy Week 1 win over another Top 10 foe in Springfield Central and Friday night’s loss, Crimson Tide head coach John DiBiaso was less than enthused with his team’s work thus far.

“There were no positives,” DiBiaso said of Friday’s loss. “They kicked our butts up and down the field, in every aspect of the game – special teams, offense, defense.

“We didn’t play well, we didn’t execute.”

EVERETT, Mass. -- The Tide settled just in time against visiting neighbor Malden High last night.

Ahead for the final 25 minutes, Everett boys' basketball looked to be cruising to its first Greater Boston League victory of the season as it lead by as much as 20 points in the final half. A frenzy of fourth-quarter steals slipped the Golden Tornadoes within a single score late, but the Crimson Tide (4-3, 1-1) steadied in the final minute to best Malden (5-2, 1-1), 61-52.

“We got off to a nice start (at) 2-0 and lost three tough ones by a total of three points to real good teams,” said Everett coach John DiBiaso. “We were a little down on ourselves so it was important to bounce back.”

Leading by its smallest margin since the first quarter, 55-52, guard Tyree Gregory whipped a sideline pass into the paint to set up sophomore Gary Clark for two points off free throws and a 57-52 lead at 1:05 in the final quarter. After Malden sophomore Anthony Gilardi just missed a fade-away, Everett junior Marquis Holman grappled the rebound and whipped the ball across the court for a 59-52 layin by junior Lubern Figaro with 45 seconds left.

A foul shot from senior Gilly DeSouza and junior Timmance McKinney sealed the win at 61-52 in the final seconds.

“We went inside a couple of times with some set plays,” said DiBiaso. “That kind of calmed us down. (We) go some layups and free throws and that got us over the hump.”

Clark, a forward, battled his way through the flu to lead the Tide with 19 points and seven rebounds. Gregory netted 16 points, while forward Jahlil Price buried 13 points and grappled five rebounds (both Everett senior captains).

“All coach said was play defense and attack the basket,” said Clark. “We do a lot of rebound drills for me and close out drills for the zone. Coach wants me to attack the basket really hard”

In The Zone: A patient 2-3 zone and a strong paint presence from six-foot-four center Gilardi helped force turnovers and battle Malden back from a 49-29 deficit at 4:29 in the third quarter.

A 13-2 fourth quarter run by the Golden Tornadoes, including seven steals, finished with senior guard Rodney Morton stripping the ball at mid court and forcing two points from foul shots to gain a slim 55-52 deficit with 1:20 left.

“(Gilardi) has really good court vision and he is able to stay where the ball is,” said Malden coach Don Nally. “When you press the ball and take vision away it makes it a little easier to do it. We did a 2-3 and we pressed off of it.”

Back-to-back three-point-plays by Gilardi and junior Ray Sainstril off steals had previously finished an eight point streak for Malden with the Golden Tornadoes down 53-48 with 2:42 remaining.

Diamond Defense: The Crimson Tide used its standard 1-2-1-1 full-court press (or as coach DiBiaso referred to it, a "Diamond Trap") the entire game. The press was extremely effective early as Everett scored eight of its first nine points off steals rather than set plays.

Gregory, who tallied 13 points in the first half, caught the defense trying to lob over him and countered to both finish a layup and draw an intentional foul for his eighth straight point to put the Tide ahead 9-5 at 5:16 in the first quarter.

“That is our go to defense,” said DiBiaso. “You have to get back if they break it and you have to be aggressive and attack if they make a steal. (Gregory) can stop on a dime, he took the ball too the basket, and he has great body control (to) finish.”

A run of nine points between the first and second quarters pushed Everett farther ahead from a slim 17-16 lead in the final three seconds of the first. With all nine points coming from layups or free throws, McKinney battled under the rim to force a 26-16 foul shot at 6:08 in the second quarter.

“We tried to get the ball in the middle of the floor and not on the sidelines, because that is when we get stuck” said Nally. “You can not go down by 18. It is such a hard battle to come back from.”

A one and a half minute span that included all but one Everett basket coming off a counter attack lead to the Tide outscoring Malden 8-2 for a 49-29 lead at 4:29 in the third quarter.