RHS Sports Roundup: Patriots Torpedo the Middies; Set to Host Wayland Friday

The Revere High football team combined ruthless efficiency with a dash of  high-octane excitement to romp to a 42-6 victory over the Dracut Middies in a quarterfinal round contest of the Division 4 North Sectional of the MIAA state playoff tournament Friday night before an ecstatic, standing-room-only crowd of predominantly Patriot partisans at Harry Della Russo Stadium.

Revere now will advance to the D-4 North semifinals this Friday at Harry Della Russo Stadium when they will host Wayland. The opening kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

As they have throughout the season, Coach Lou Cicatelli’s crew once again excelled in all three phases of the game — offense, defense, and special teams —  to record their eighth victory of the 2019 campaign.

Revere entered the contest as the second seed in the D-4 North with a perfect 7-0 record against a seventh-seeded Dracut squad that came in at 3-4, but which had dropped its preceding four encounters by an average score of 40-10. Though the Patriots on paper appeared to be a solid favorite, RHS Coach Lou Cicatelli and his crew were mindful that in last year’s state playoffs, the Middies were the eighth seed in the D-4 North, but knocked off undefeated and top-seeded Marblehead in the first round.

However, any hopes that the Middies may have harbored of pulling off a major upset in the state playoffs for the second year in a row were dashed from the opening kickoff when Patriot Billy Ginepra hauled in the pigskin and raced 76 yards for a touchdown.

Ironically, Dracut, as have other teams this season, was trying to kick the ball away from Revere’s star ballcarrier, Joe Llanos, who has run back two kickoffs for touchdowns this season. But for the second straight week, Ginepra foiled the Patriots’ opponent’s strategy by taking the opening kickoff to the house for six quick points.

The Patriot defense then rose to the occasion on the ensuing Dracut possession, forcing a three-and-out, turning the ball over to the Revere offense for the first time of the evening.

With quarterback Calvin Boudreau at the controls, the Patriots marched 60 yards, capped by an 18-yard run by Jonathan Murphy, upping the count to 13-0 after the successful PAT kick by Rayan Riazi.

The next Dracut possession and repossession by Revere followed a similar pattern — three-and-out for the Middies and an 80-yard drive by the Pats — with Joe Llanos running in from 19 yards out. A pass from Boudreau to Lucas Barbosa for the two-point conversion left Revere sitting in the driver’s seat, 21-0, midway through the second quarter.

Though the lone breakdown by the Revere defense on the night resulted in a  44-yard run by the Middie quarterback on a broken play, the Patriots stuffed Dracut’s two-point conversion to leave matters at 21-6 as the teams headed into the locker room.

The second half was almost an identical replay of what had transpired before the intermission. The Revere defense took over on downs on Dracut’s opening drive of the second half at the Patriot 40, from where the Pats once again went into ball-control mode with the capper coming on a 22-yard jaunt by Llanos into the Middie end zone.

With the successful kick by Riazi increasing the lead to 28-6, the contest was all but over. Revere added two more touchdowns, on a 16-yard run by Zach Furlong and a 35 yard burst by Adetayo Atitebi, before the night was out to account for the 42-6 finale, giving Cicatelli ample opportunity to use his reserves.

“Our defense controlled the game for us,” said Cicatelli, noting the major contributions of defensive ends Augusto Goncalves and Alaa Attoui, who led the Pats in tackles.

Revere’s next opponent, Wayland, which plays in the Dual County League (Small), promises to be more of a challenge. The Patriots were able to scout the Warriors at their quarterfinal game with Wakefield on Saturday and were impressed with their next opponent.

“Wayland is the best team we will have played all year,” said Cicatelli of the Warriors, who stand at 7-1, with their lone loss of the season, 21-20, coming to a Concord-Carlisle team that is undefeated and that advanced to the D-3 North semifinals this past weekend.

Wayland has outscored its opponents by an average of 31-12 and boasts an outstanding quarterback in Mason Bolivar, who tossed a pair of touchdown passes and ran for two more in Wayland’s 27-14 victory over Wakefield.

“We know we will have our work cut out for us and that we’ll have to play to the best of our ability in order for us to win Friday night,” said Cicatelli.

If the Patriots are successful, they will face the victor of the other semifinal battle between Melrose-Marblehead for the D-4 North championship next Friday evening.

Volleyball, Field Hockey Teams Fall in Tourney

The Revere High volleyball and field hockey teams came out on the short end of their contests in the opening round of the MIAA state tournaments this past week.

Coach Briana Scata’s field hockey squad, which qualified for the state tourney for the first time in almost 30 years with the best-ever record, 12-2-2, in the program’s history and its first-ever GBL title, dropped a 6-0 decision to Chelmsford last Thursday.

Revere was seeded fifth in the Division 1 North Sectional, while Chelmsford was seeded 12th. Chelmsford then defeated North Andover, 3-2, in the quarterfinals to advance to the sectional semifinals.

Coach Lianne Mimmo’s RHS volleyball squad, the sixth seed in the Division 1 Central-East Sectional with a 13-7 record, came up short by a score of 3-0 at King Philip, the number three seed, this past Monday.

RHS Boys Run Well at Coaches Meet

The Revere High boys cross country team participated in Saturday’s State Coaches Meet at the Wrentham state training facility.

“The team ran very well,” said RHS head coach Mike Flynn. “All of the races were incredibly crowded and I’m very proud of how well the boys competed against the best runners in the state.”

In the senior race, Christian Madrid was the top Revere finisher, coming across the line in the 5K race in a clocking of 18:02, which was good for 58th place among the field of 239 runners.

Fabio Tran was next for the Pats in 78th position in a time of 18:22. James Carpinelli, who ran his best race of the season according to Flynn, came across in 93rd spot in 18:41 and Antony Arias finished in 185th in 20:11.

In the junior race, Carlos Quintanilla came across the line in 162nd place in a time of 19:22.

Sophomore Victor Pelatere ran the 5K course in 19:05, which placed him in 122nd spot among the 403 sophomore runners who competed.

Brayden Shanley ran in the freshman contest and finished in 218th position in a clocking of 12:50 in the 3K distance.

“Brayden has done unbelievably well this season,” said RHS head coach Mike Flynn. “He never had run a cross country race prior to coming out for the team in August and his improvement has been dramatic.

“The entire team ran very well,” said Flynn. “What I like about this group of boys is that they never are satisfied with their performance and they’re always pushing themselves to run faster.”

Flynn will bring a contingent of six boys to the Division 1 State Meet this Saturday, which also will be held at the Wrentham facility.

RHS Girls Cross Country at State Coaches

The Revere High girls cross country team traveled to Wrentham Saturday to participate in the Frank Mooney State Coaches Invitational.

Four members of the Lady Patriot squad competed in the meet in three separate races. 

“While we didn’t take home any medals, the girls ran strong and raced against the top competition in the state,” said RHS head coach Katie Sinnott. “Each girl ran their target paces and raced smart.”

Participating in the junior 5K race was Soleil Young, finishing 111th with a time of 23:27. Participating in the sophomore 5K race was Carly Bennett, finishing 107th with a time of 24:05. 

Two Revere freshmen, Butayna Amine and Maria Ferreira, participated in the freshman 3K race, the first time-ever that both girls participated in such a large race.

“There were nearly 200 girls in that race,” noted Sinnott. “While nervous and a bit intimidated, I’m proud of them for sticking to their plan and racing well.”

Sinnott and her crew next will head to the EMass Divisional Race next weekend, which also will be held at the state training facility in Wrentham.  Taking part in that race will be senior Salome Gezehagn, juniors Soleil Young and Yulissa Santana Baez, and sophomore Carly Bennett.

RHS Girls Soccer Hosts Tourney Game Tomorrow Evening

The Revere High girls soccer team will host Acton-Boxborough tomorrow (Thursday) evening at Harry Della Russo Stadium in a quarterfinal contest of the MIAA Division 1 North state soccer tournament. The opening kickoff at HDR is set for 6:30.

Coach Megan O’Donnell’s squad concluded its regular season last week with a 1-1 tie with Haverhill. Carolina Bettero, assisted by Sofia Chroqi, netted the Patriot goal at 25 minutes of the first half, but Lowell brought the contest bad k to level before the end of the first half.

Revere controlled the play in the second 40 minutes after the intermission, but could not find the back of the Lowell net.

“Coming off a loss from Haverhill, we struggled to get started,” said O’Donnell. “We had great defense and goal-playing by Allison Calderon, Allyson Reyes, Camila Perez, Elsy Romero, Valeska Florez and Sofia Gouriny. We started to fight back in the second half with about 10 scoring opportunities, but we couldn’t finish.”

Revere is the top seed in the D-1 North after compiling a sterling 14-1-3 overall record. The Patriots were the co-champs of the Greater Boston League with Somerville, with both teams sporting 6-0-2 records in the GBL.

Acton-Boxborough is the eighth seed in the D-1 North Sectional with a 10-4-6 record. A-B defeated Chelmsford in the first round of the tourney by a score of 2-1.

The winner will advance to the sectional semifinal at Cawley Stadium in Lowell next Monday against the winner of the Andover vs. Lexington contest.

“This season has been so successful because the girls have put in the work and they have always played whistle to whistle and they do not give up,” O’Donnell noted. “This year’s team always has each other’s back on and off the field, and that’s the key to a successful season.”

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