WESTWOOD — The last three games between Xaverian and Springfield Central — all Central wins — were about offensive fireworks, and explosive plays.

On Friday night in a Division 1 quarterfinal, Xaverian was happy to make it about defense.

The No. 2 Hawks made the biggest plays of the game on that side of the ball, and just enough on the other, to earn a 21-20 win over No. 7 Central.

Xaverian (8-2) moves to the Final Four, where it will play Needham. Central falls to 8-2.

“I don’t want to get in a track meet with anybody,” Xaverian coach Al Fornaro said. “We got some dudes who can run, but not as many as they do. Keep the ball away from their playmakers. It’s simple. I didn’t invent that stuff. It was invented many years ago.”

A few plays stood out the most for Xaverian. The Hawks stuffed a Central two-point conversion rush to account for the final margin. Sophomore Dave Chiavegato made an interception, and a pass breakup, the latter to force a turnover on downs on Central’s last possession. Jayce Devine had another interception. The Hawks also recovered a fumble.

Offensively, Xaverian running back Denzil Pierre rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Quarterback Henry Hasselbeck completed 8 of 12 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for a score.

Down 14-7 at the half, Xaverian turned it around and picked up a Central fumble early in the third quarter. The Hawks went eight plays and 68 yards, the last eight coming on a Hasselbeck touchdown pass to Hunter Molway to help tie the score at 14-all.

On the next drive, Chiavegato ripped away an interception and returned it 30 yards to the Central 8-yard line. Hasselbeck then ran it in for an 8-yard touchdown as the Hawks took a 21-14 lead on Joseph MacDonald’s PAT.

Central answered, as JayCion Cox (47 yards rushing) ran in a 10-yard touchdown. But the Hawks stopped him short on the two-point conversion, and Xaverian held a 21-20 lead.

After the teams traded three fruitless drives, Central put together a promising series that reached the Xaverian 6. But Chiavegato batted away a fourth-down pass by Central quarterback Jareth Staine (187 yards passing).

Pierre then gained 17 yards on a third and 3 with from the Xaverian 13 to seal it. Central did not touch the ball again.

“Man, I just believed,” Pierre said. “My coach said, ‘We’re going to feed you’ as soon as the fourth quarter came up. We got the ball back, the defense did a great job. O-line, the guys up there gave us a push, and I just ran through there. They trusted me, and I got it for them.”

Xaverian opened the game with a terrific drive. It went 62 yards on six plays, the last 35 on a Pierre rush with no one around him.

But Central responded. Preston Longo had a 5-yard touchdown in the second quarter, then Mattias Barbour caught an 85-yard touchdown pass from Staine. Barbour caught three passes for 142 yards.

“We made a couple adjustments, stuff that we’ve worked on,” Fornaro said. “We just had to take a risk because of what they were doing offensively to us in the first half. I thought the defense played outstanding. Not happy with penalties, whether they were personal fouls or facemasks. When push came to shove, we were able to push a little harder than they were.”