Sports 09-19-2018

RhS sports Roundup

Doubly-tough loss for RHS football team

If you can keep your head when all about you. 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

— from If, by Rudyard Kipling

Some losses hurt more than others, and so it was for the Revere High football team in the wake of an 18-6 defeat to Marblehead Friday evening under the lights at Harry Della Russo Stadium.

“This was  one of our toughest losses in a long time,” said RHS head coach Lou Cicatelli, who has been at the helm of the Patriot grid program for 15 years. “We had the game within our grasp. But we committed too many mistakes, almost all of them preventable, and gave it away to them. We just didn’t use our heads.”

The contest began brightly for the Patriots, who took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards, culminating with a six-yard TD run by Lucas Barbosa. The long drive ate up almost the entire first quarter and established a powerful running game led by hard-driving captain Darius McNeil, Barbosa, and Joe Allano, all of whom took turns pounding the Marblehead defense into submission en route to the end zone.

The Revere defense then got into the act on the ensuing Marblehead possession, forcing a fumble, thanks to a quarterback sack by Zach Furlong that put the Revere offense back in business in Marblehead territory.

However, that would prove to be the apogee of the Patriots’ performance for the evening. Just a few plays later, Revere sophomore quarterback Calvin Boudreau was sacked, hitting the turf hard — and the result was a fractured collarbone that will keep Calvin sidelined for an estimated four-six weeks.

Although Jonathan Murphy came on as signal-caller and would perform well in his first action over center since early last season, the Patriot offense never quite regained its momentum.

Marblehead took advantage of the situation, finally putting together a scoring drive at the end of the first half that left matters deadlocked at 6-6 at the intermission.

The visitors took the second half kickoff and proceeded to replicate its initial scoring drive with another TD march to move out to a 12-6 lead.

Revere remained undaunted however, and with Murphy at the helm, the Patriots went on a nice drive that brought them to the edge of the red zone at the Marblehead 21. However, a yellow flag from the ref on the next play for a chop block, setting Revere back 15 yards, effectively thwarted the potential scoring drive.

The Revere defense held firm and appeared to be in position to force a Marblehead punt deep inside Marblehead territory with five minutes to play, more than enough time to launch a tying touchdown drive.

However, a bad decision by a Patriot player led to a personal foul call by the ref — tacking on 15 yards for a Marblehead first down.

“That one really hurt,” said Cicatelli. “I told the players that they are wearing 10 pounds of protective equipment — so they should be able to take a hard hit without retaliating. But we got caught by the ref and it cost us dearly.”

The Marblehead offense took full advantage of its new life with the change in momentum and eventually added another TD in the closing seconds for the 18-6 finale.

“This was just a  frustrating game all-around,” said Cicatelli. “Hopefully we learned from our mistakes and our lack of discipline and we’ll do better in our next game.”

That next contest is with a Lynn Classical squad that is among the top-rated teams in the state. Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday under the lights at HDR.

 

RHS girls cross

country triumphs

The Revere High girls cross country team won its opening meet of the season with a runaway, 19-40 victory over Lynn Classical last Thursday on the 2.89 mile Belle Isle course.

“After a couple of weeks of heat making it tough to train, the team finally found some good running weather,” said veteran RHS head coach Katie Sinnott. “This allowed us to train better, and lead us to a win.”

Junior Erika Cheever finished in first place in a time of 21:22. “Erika looks ready to follow up her great sophomore year with another one,” said Sinnott.

Senior Leila Cesic finished second, only a few moments behind Erika.  Rounding out the top five RHS finishers were sophomore Soleil Yuong, freshman Carly Bennett, and junior Gabrielle O’Brien.

Overall Results:

Revere 19, Lynn Classical 40

Erika Cheever – 1st overall – 21:22

Leila Cesic – 2nd overall – 21:36

Soleil Yuong – 4th overall – 23:01

Carly Bennett – 5th overall – 23:02

Gabrielle O’Brein – 7th overall – 26:27

Yulissa Santana – 9th overall – 26:46

Skyla McNamara – 10th overall – 26:59

Salome Gezehagn – 11th overall – 27:34

Gabreila Mogavero – 13th overall – 32:41

Nawal Khan – 14th overall – 32:51

Salma Hazimeh – 15th overall – 32:51

Maajda Louaddi – 16th overall – 32:57

Belma Mujic – 17th overall – 35:58

The Lady Patriots have a busy week. They were set to compete in  a tri-meet this past Monday at Belle Isle against Everett and Danvers, a match-up that was postponed in the first week of the season because of excessive heat, and then will trek to Peabody tomorrow (Thursday).

They will host Malden next Wednesday.

 

RHS boys run

past Classical

The Revere High boys cross country, whose original season-opening meet was postponed because of excessive heat two weeks ago, defeated Lynn Classical, 19-40, on the 2.89 mile Belle Isle course last week.

Senior captain Cristian Acuna took the honors for being the first across the line with a clocking of 17:19, topping his personal record (PR) on his home course by 15 seconds.

“Cristian worked hard over the summer and it showed with a new PR,” said RHS head coach Mike Flynn.

Teammate Christian Madrid, a newcomer to the RHS program competing in his first cross-country race, came across in third place in 18:17. Senior captain Jonathan Nushi took fourth place in 18:35, followed by Wilfredo Martinez in fifth in 18:41 and senior captain Scott Montefusco in sixth in 18:46 to round out the RHS scoring.

Patriots who also turned in impressive performances were: Fabio Tran (7th place, 18:59); Samuel Gonzalez (10th, 20:05); newcomer Anthony Arias (11th, 20:07); James Carpinelli (12th, 20:10); Brian Perez (13th, 20:21); newcomer Marco Cerbone (14th, 20:48); Ronald Pineda (15th, 20:52); newcomer Jason Vu (23:07); and Jose Abias (24:00).

Flynn and his crew were set to host Danvers and Everett this past Monday in a make-up of the original season-opener and then will travel to Peabody tomorrow (Thursday). They will be back on the Belle Isle course next Wednesday to host Malden.

Mazac Gambardella will fight at TD Garden on Oct. 21

By Cary Shuman

Travis Mazac Gambardella will be taking a major step in his professional boxing career when he fights on Oct. 20 at the TD Garden.

Gambardella, son of Carla Gambardella of Revere, will put his undefeated (4-0-2,2 KOs) record on the line against southpaw Joe Farina of South Boston (4-0, 3 KOs).

Gambardella, a right-hander with a powerful right uppercut and a devastating left hook, is coming off a Sept. 8 knockout in a fight at Plainridge Casino.

“This is a huge fight for me, the biggest of my career so far,” said the 29-year-old Gambardella, who is managed by Chris Jay and trained by Joseph “Hoss” Janik.

Gambardella started in boxing at the age of 15 and graduated from Revere High in 2007. He played one season of semi-professional football before focusing on his amateur boxing career, compiling a record of 12-2 that included an appearance in the finals of the New England Golden Gloves in Lowell.

Gambardella turned professional in March, 2017 and currently trains 4-6 hours each day at Knuckleheadz Gym in Ventura, Calif. He has been the sparring partner for world title contenders Victor Ortiz and Francisco Santana.

Gambardella said he is grateful to the Lasely family, who has been a generous supporter of his boxing career while he has been living in California. “They’ve done a lot for me,” said Gambardella.

Gambardella said he understands the significance of fighting at the TD Garden, which has been the site of several professional boxing cards since the Boston Garden opened in 1928. His fight at the Garden will be on the undercard of the Demetrius Andrade-Billy Joe Saunders fight.

“I know the history of boxing in Boston and I’m really excited about the opportunity to fight at the Garden,” said Gambardella, who has attended Celtics and Bruins home games there. “I hope that many people from Revere will be there rooting for me.”