RhS sports Roundup
RHS football team defeats English;Â ends with best record since 1982
The 2015 Revere High football team wrote itself into the history books with Friday night’s 24-6 triumph over Lynn English, recording the Patriots’ seventh victory of the season which marks the first time an RHS grid team has accomplished that feat since 1982.
“The team has been doing a great job all year and I’m incredibly proud of them,†said RHS head coach Lou Cicatelli, who was a member of those ’82 Patriots who went 7-3 (as well as the ’81 RHS squad that went 7-2-1).
Revere established control of the contest from the outset on both sides of the line of scrimmage. After the Patriot defense forced English to punt on the game’s opening possession, the Revere offense marched 66 yards into the Bulldog endzone, the capper coming on a five yard run by senior captain and quarterback Danny Murphy. Steve Noel booted the PAT through the uprights to make it 7-0.
Running back Victor Rivera played a key role in the drive with some big runs, while the duo of Murphy and receiver Oscar Lopez connected for key first downs, including a 17 yard pass play on a third-and-eight.
Although English controlled the ball for a good chunk of the second quarter, the Revere defense stopped the English offense in Revere territory and took over on downs. The Patriot offense got back to work and embarked on another scoring foray that culminated with a 23 yard field goal by Noel.
The Pats were sitting pretty at that point and appeared poised to head into the locker room at the half with a 10-0 lead, but with little time left on the clock, a broken pass play on a third-and-eight turned into a long-gainer for English and a touchdown that left matters at 10-6 at the intermission.
However, despite the late score by English, the game’s momentum did not shift in English’s favor for the start of the second half. Revere took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards to paydirt, with a highlight-reel, 30-yard catch by Lopez accounting for the touchdown.
The scoring play came on what Revere calls a “tight end pop†on which Oscar, who lined up as a tight end, broke straight down the field. The toss from quarterback Murphy was just a bit long. However, Oscar did a pretty good imitation of Odell Beckham and stretched out to get a hand on the ball, tipping it up in the air — and essentially to himself — and then maintaining his concentration and grabbing the pigskin for the score.
“It was an awesome catch,†marveled Cicatelli.
The remainder of the game belonged to the Revere defense, which made some adjustments during the break and shut down the isolation plays that had been fairly successful for English in the first two periods.
After a Revere drive midway through the fourth quarter resulted in a punt that pinned English inside its own five, an attempted screen pass in the flat by English seemingly fell incomplete. But in reality the pass was a backward lateral and thus was a fumble. An alert Jake Noftle scooped up the loose pigskin and ran into the end zone for a touchdown that sealed the game.
“I can’t say enough about how well our defense played,†said Cicatelli, who noted in particular the performances of junior linebackers Eddie Sullivan and John DeSimone, fellow linebacker Noel, and linemen Pho Tran and Anthony DeStefano. “They were immense and completely stopped English in the second half.â€
The Patriots now will seek to become the team with the third-most wins in RHS history — exceeded only by the 1973 Super Bowl squad and the 1964 Class B champion team — when they shoot for victory number eight in what is sure to be a rockin’ and rollin’ Harry Della Russo Stadium Thanksgiving Day against traditional archival Winthrop.
“This will be our Super Bowl,†said Cicatelli. “We have a chance to make some history, in our new stadium, on Thanksgiving, and against our biggest rival.â€
For the Patriots’ faithful football fans in this marvelous season, it doesn’t get any better than that.
RHS girls, boys compete at State Division 2 Meet
The Revere High girls and boys cross country teams wrapped up their 2015 seasons Saturday, competing at the Eastern Mass. Division 2 Meet held at the Wrentham training facility, which has replaced Franklin Park as the venue for championship high school cross country meets.
“It was a very windy day, and that weather had an impact on the racers,†noted RHS girls head coach Katie Sinnott. “Racers who took to the lead early often dropped back due to the extra work to push against the strong gusts of wind. It was chilly and biting for the spectators as well.
“Despite the weather and the aches and pains of a long season of racing, I am very proud of the results,†said Sinnott of her Lady Patriots. “Every girl bettered her time from this race on the same course last year, and nearly every one of them was faster than last week, when running conditions were near perfect for the State Coaches Meet. They gave the course everything they had and the times show it.
“I know if the weather had not been so difficult the improvements would have been even more,†added Sinnott. “Regardless, the team has much to celebrate.”
The RHS girls results were:
Hannah Fitzpatrick – 72nd overall – 21:33
Suellen Guerreiro – 101st overall – 22:34
Leila Cesic – 114th overall – 23:13
Tricia Cheever – 118th overall – 23:25
Monica Posada – 120th overall – 23:52
On the boys’ side, senior Zakaria Attioui, who has been the top performer for coach Mike Flynn’s Patriots throughout the season, once again turned in the best finish for Revere, taking 80th place with a clocking of 18:22 over the 5K (3.1 miles) course.
Zakaria was followed by Sebastian Mejia in 18:52, Arthur LaCerda in 20:57, Barhoum Hassan in 22:26, and Fernando Aguiluz in 24:58.
RHS sports Through the Years
20 years ago
November 15, 1995
A 7-2 Arlington High football team easily handled Revere, 35-8, Saturday afternoon. Patriot tailback Marc Sylvestri was the lone bright spot for Revere, rushing for 129 yards on 24 carries and scoring the Revere TD. Sylvestri eclipsed the 1000-yard rushing mark for the season with his fine effort. Revere is now 3-5-1 for the year.
The RHS boys cross-country team finished in 16th place of the 28 schools in the Division II state meet he’d at Franklin Park Saturday. Samnang Ros was the top Patriot, finishing in 62nd place in 18:12. The RHS girls squad finished in last place among the field of 23 teams.
30 years ago
November 13, 1985
The Revere High football team was held to minus one yard rushing and just 36 yards of total offense in a 15-0 loss to Everett Saturday.
Former RHS track and cross country star Dom Finelli, who also enjoyed a stellar collegiate career at Brandeis, finished in first place in the third annual Revere 10K Road Race Sunday with a time of 32:15. Karen Rapallo was the first female finisher in 40:53.
40 years ago
November 12, 1975
The Revere High football team dropped its eighth straight game of the season, 27-6, Saturday to Peabody. Revere had grabbed a 6-0 lead when Mario Potito ran 59 yards to the Peabody 20 and then tossed a 20-yard TD pass to Ed Riley.
50 years ago
November 18, 1965
The Revere High football team, which was led for the second straight week by junior substitute quarterback Ron Ferullo, triumphed again Saturday with a 14-6 victory over previously-unbeaten Newton South. Ferullo passed for both of the Revere touchdowns, a 59 yard bomb to All-Scholastic end Alan Drover and a seven yard toss to Mike Wayne.
The undefeated Immaculate Conception High football team squeaked past St. Columbkille’s of Brighton, 7-0, Sunday. The IC squad now will meet also-undefeated Arlington Catholic for the championship of the Suburban Catholic League. Ken Bova ran 11 yards for the IC touchdown and quarterback Mike Carabba ran in for the deciding two-point conversion.
60 years ago
November 17, 1955
An injury-riddled Revere High football team proved no match for Lynn English in a 26-6 defeat Saturday at the Manning Bowl.
The Immaculate Conception High football team ended its season in a blaze of glory with an 18-0 victory over Cathedral. Pete DiCarlo scored two touchdowns and Steve White caught a TD pass from Henry Hooton for the IC scores. Coach Ron Corbett’s Revicons thus finished the year with a perfect 6-0 record in which they outscored their opponents 151-27 for the season.
70 years ago
November 15, 1945
The Revere High football team improved its record to 5-3 on the season with a 12-0 win over Watertown. Revere’s star player and captain, Jerry Sarno, scored both of the Revere touchdowns. Sarno leads the team in scoring with 58 points, followed by Mike Casoli with 45 points.
Casilla playing on Worcester Polytech football team
Justin Casilla is a member of the WPI Football team that earned a berth to Friday’s ECAC Division III Presidents Bowl Championship game. It is the first time in 23 years the program has earned a postseason bid.
The Engineers have been selected to play in the ECAC Presidents Bowl where they will face Kean (NJ) on Friday at 8pm at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
WPI enters Friday’s contest with a record of 7-3, equaling the most wins since its last postseason appearance in 1992, when they squared off with Rowan in the NCAA Championships. It marks just the third postseason game in the 126 year history of WPI football as the Crimson and Gray appeared in their only other ECAC Bowl game in 1991 against Buffalo State.
Kean also enters Friday’s match-up with a 7-3 record. The Cougars finished with a 6-3 mark in the rugged NJAC and defeated Montclair State this past weekend 28-21 on the road. WPI also closed out the regular season on a high note, winning for the first time ever at Springfield 19-17.
The Presidents Bowl is one of six ECAC Bowl games this weekend. The games, two-a-day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, are at a neutral site for the first time in recent memory. Tickets for each game are $10. More information on ticket sales will be available later in the week.
About Worcester
Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation’s first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. WPI’s talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university’s innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 45 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.