RHS Sports Roundup: Overtime Win, Patriots Edge English, To Face Marblehead Friday Night

The Revere High football team won what arguably ranks as the program’s most significant victory in nearly 50 years with a thrilling 32-30 overtime triumph over Lynn English Saturday afternoon at Manning Field.

Revere had entered the contest with a 4-0 record (2-0 in the South Division of the Northeastern Conference), while the Bulldogs came in at 3-1 (1-0 NEC South) and were ranked in the top 20 in the polls. English also was coming off  a pair of blow-out wins of 54-0 over Salem and 42-0 over Gloucester.

However, coach Lou Cicatelli and his Patriots were undaunted as they took on the vaunted Bulldogs, even after falling behind 14-6 midway through the first half.

Joe Llanos, Revere’s all-everything man, foreshadowed his monster performance to come on the day when he gave the Pats an early 6-0 advantage with a 61-yard bolt for a touchdown on Revere’s opening possession. However, English would score the next two touchdowns to take a 14-6 lead before RHS quarterback Calvin Boudreau would find Lucas Barbosa for a nine yard pass in the end zone to narrow the margin to 14-12, capping a long Revere drive just before the end of the half.

Llanos regained the lead for Revere when he went over from a yard out on the Patriots’ first possession after the intermission, a 35 yard-drive on which Revere took advantage of a short field following a poor English punt on the windy gridiron. However, the Patriots once again were unable to convert the Pats, leaving matters at 18-14.

The Bulldogs responded with a long drive to move ahead, 21-18, but the English advantage proved short-lived — for all of about 10 seconds — when Llanos took the ensuing kickoff and raced almost 80 yards to pay dirt.

With Revere once again failing to convert on the PAT, that left matters at 24-21, setting the stage for an English field goal that brought the teams back to level at 24-24 midway through the final period.

Neither team was able to score before the end of regulation — the Patriots missed on a 32 yard field goal attempt with seconds left on the clock — sending the game into OT.

The Patriots took the ball first, starting at the English 10, and punched it into the end zone, with — guess who — Llanos scoring both the TD from two yards out on fourth down and then adding the crucial two-point conversion. (The NEC’s rules mandate a two-point try if a touchdown is achieved on the first possession.)

English responded with a TD of its own on a truly bizarre chain of events on second down. The Bulldogs picked up five yards on first down to get to the Revere five, but on second down, Patriot linebacker Adetayo Atitebi made a hard hit on the Bulldog quarterback, forcing a fumble. However, upon recovering the bouncing pigskin, Atitebi in turn fumbled, with the ball bouncing back into the hands of the English quarterback at the 12-yard line, from where he scooted into the end zone, setting the stage for the dramatic two-point conversion attempt to tie the game.

The Revere defense then made what rates as one of — if not THE — biggest stands ever in Patriot football annals when they stuffed the Bulldogs’ attempt for the two points. Cicatelli, anticipating an English sweep, sent his defensive backs into the backfield, and senior captain Jonathan Murphy made a sure-armed tackle of the Bulldog ballcarrier in the backfield to end the game in dramatic fashion.

“Jonathan had been making great tackles all day, and then he made one more,” said Cicatelli. “He was a key ingredient in our ability to contain the English running attack, and their quarterback in particular.”

Murphy was just one of many heroes for the Patriots, with Llanos at the top of the list. Joe ended up with over 170 yards rushing on 20 carries to go with his four touchdowns and conversion.

He also made a key interception at the Revere 20 to thwart an English scoring drive. Llanos returned the ball all the way to the Bulldog 10, but the long runback was called back because of a clipping penalty that was flagged on Revere.

“Joe is one of the best high school players I’ve ever seen,” said Cicatelli, of the senior, who is amassing numbers that are worthy of both NEC Player of the Year and All-Scholastic honors. “He’s been doing it all for us — offense, defense, and special teams.”

Llanos’s performance earned him a Division 4 Player of the Week accolade in the Globe this past week.

Murphy, in addition to his defensive exploits, was the top receiver on the day for RHS quarterback Boudreau (9-for-15 for 102 yards). Dillan Day also was a favorite target for Calvin, as was Barbosa, who hauled in the nine-yard TD pass on a well-executed fade route.

The Revere offensive line, helmed by senior center Josh Laurina, turned in an outstanding job against an English D-line that is the biggest they will face this season.

“We have a lot of players who are contributing in so many ways,” said Cicatelli. “We’re playing as a team and everybody’s picking up everybody else.”

The 5-0 Patriots now will trek Friday evening to Piper Field in Marblehead to face the 5-0 Magicians in an NEC cross-divisonal match-up that rates as the game of the year on the North Shore this season.

Marblehead is in first place in the NEC North and is coming off a 16-7 win over a Peabody squad that Revere handled fairly easily, 24-0, earlier in the season. Marblehead has been in the Globe’s Top 20 all season and presently sits in the eighth spot. For the first time this season, the Patriots broke into the Globe’s top 20 this week with a ranking of 15.

The contest also has playoff implications. Revere is rated second in the MIAA’s power rankings in Division 4 behind 5-0 Melrose, while Marblehead is rated fourth. The winner of Friday night’s battle likely will grab the top seed in the D-4 North playoffs with the prospect of two home playoff games.

The kick-off under the lights at Piper Field is set for 7:00. The field is located at the Marblehead High School complex, 2 Humphrey St., and seating in the stands is very limited.

Volleyball team wins three to reach tourney

The Revere High volleyball team enjoyed an eventful past two weeks. Coach Lianne Mimmo’s Patriots improved to 11-3 on the season with a trio of victories that clinched a spot in the post-season state tourney and placed Revere in the driver’s seat for a Greater Boston League championship.

In a hard-fought battle at Winthrop, Revere prevailed in four sets, 25-23, 25-27, 25-23, and 25-16. Isabella Martinez paced the Patriot attack with 12 kills. Teammate Olivia Winsor added eight kills.

Four Revere players, Tracy Gutierrez, Isabella Martinez, Alexis Iacoviello, and Gianna Mahoney, each served four aces.

The following day the Patriots hosted Saugus and earned a shutout victory, 3-0, by scores of 25-14, 25-19, and 25-14.

“This match was a chance for our captains to show their leadership skills and determine the lineup,” said Mimmo. David Del Rio served eight aces, while Lynzie Anderson, Olivia Winsor, and Isabella Martinez combined for 16 kills.

“We had lots of kids contributing in that match,” added Mimmo.

In their next contest, Revere came up short in a 3-0 decision to non-league rival Lynn Classical.

“Although we led during the first and third sets, we were not able to maintain that lead,” noted Mimmo. “Lynn Classical’s style of volleyball is not traditional. They rely on the other team making more mistakes, and we did. Fortunately, we can learn from those mistakes and improve when we see them again on the 22nd in Lynn.”

Mimmo and her crew returned to their winning ways with a 3-0 blanking of GBL rival Somerville last Wednesday. The triumph improved the Patriots to 6-0 in the league, setting the stage for Revere to clinch an undisputed GBL title when they host Medford today (Wednesday). The Patriots will host non-league rival Cristo Rey tomorrow and then will entertain Malden on Monday. They will trek to Lynn Classical on Tuesday and close out their regular season against Winchester next Thursday.

RHS boys cross

country beats Medford

The Revere High boys cross country team remained undefeated this season with a 16-46 victory over Medford on the Patriots’ rainy and wind-swept, 2.74-mile home course at Revere High last Wednesday.

The Patriots now stand at 3-0 on the season and are in the driver’s seat to capture a Greater Boston League title.

Leading the way for the Pats was senior captain Fabio Tran, who finished in first place with a time of 16:30. Senior captain Christian Madrid was next across the line in 16:44, followed by Victor Pelatere in 17:04, Will Martinez in 17:05, and senior captain James Carpinelli in 17:21.

Carlos Quintanilla came home in seventh spot in 17:31. Antony Arias was ninth in 17:49. Vincent Nichols (13th in 19:07), Michael Adolphus (22nd in 20:28), Brayden Shanley (23rd in 21:08), and Miguel Leonarte-Garcia (25th in 21:18) rounded out the Patriot runners.

“We ran very well,” said RHS head coach Mike Flynn. “We followed our strategy to run as a pack and despite the poor conditions, everybody ran a faster time on our new course than they did previously.”

Flynn and his crew will seek to clinch an undisputed GBL title when they make the short trek to Malden today (Wednesday). They will race Lynn Classical on Friday in a non-league meet and then will compete in the all-GBL Meet next Wednesday at Macdonald Park in Medford.

Girls cross country

showing improvement

Although the Revere High girls cross country team dropped a 23-35 decision to Medford last Wednesday, RHS head coach Katie Sinnott was pleased with her team’s performance.

“Despite a cold and rainy day, every RHS finisher ran the best time on our home course and for many, it was a significant improvement,” said Sinnott.

Senior Salome Gezehagn took nearly three minutes off her home course time, while sophomore Keneisha Germain sliced almost five minutes off her previous home course best time.

“In addition, Keneisha was our most improved runner from our last race,” said Sinnott.

Also bettering their previous home course personal best times by at least a minute were senior Nawal Kahn, junior Yulissa Santana Baez, sophomore Maajda Louaddi, freshman Butayna Amine, and freshman Guadalupe Alvarado.

“The girls worked hard and everyone gave their top effort,” Sinnott added. “We knew this was going to be a tough race, and I am so proud of the work they put in.  Unfortunately we came up a bit short. 

“The team met the paces and times I expected of them, but Medford’s strong pack of girls finishing in around 23 minutes is what was the deciding factor,” Sinnott continued. “The team should be really proud of themselves – we gave it everything we had, despite the pain and the rain.  I know they are a bit disappointed, but we are going to regroup and come back to take on Malden and Lynn Classical this week.”

Individual Results

Soleil Yuong – 2nd, 20:57

Carly Bennett – 3rd, 21:37

Yulissa Santana Baez – 8th, 23:24

Salome Gezehagn – 10th, 24:24

Maajda Louaddi – 14th, 25:14

Butayna Amine – 15th

Keneisha Germain – 16th

Nawal Khan – 17th

Salma Hazimeh – 19th

Camila Sposito – 20th

Guadalupe Alvarado – 21st

RHS golfers drops contest with Salem

The Revere High golf team took on former Northeastern Conference rival Salem last week and came up on the short end of a 17-15 decision.

Senior Mike Marchese, playing at number four in coach Brandon Pezutto’s lineup, was the top scorer for the Patriots with 4.5 points. Mike parred the 3 and 4 holes at Ye Olde Salem Greens that powered his 4.5-4.5 deadlock with his Salem rival.

Freshman Ryan Willett turned in an impressive performance at No. 5, earning 3.5 points for the RHS side of the scoresheet. Junior Steven Leone,  playing at number 6 for the first time, won three points for the RHS cause.

Senior captain Dante Raffa, playing in the number one spot, earned two points against his Salem counterpart with a pair of pars.

Senior Will Ly, playing at No. 2, earned half a point when he sank a 40 foot putt. Senior Mike Hayes at number three won a point when he made a nice chip shot that came within inches of the cup on the the fifth hole.

Senior Hussain Alharbi scored a point in the No. 7 slot and senior Cris Pennachio, playing in his first varsity match, earned half a point at No. 8.

In a contest the previous week with Saugus, freshman Gerry Visconti played in his first varsity match in the number six slot and earned half a point.

“A few of our experienced golfers were out because of injury and illness,” said Pezutto. “Gerry just picked up a club this August for the first time and has worked hard to earn his spot in the lineup.”

Alex Trichilo, playing at No. 4, and Leone, playing at No. 5, were the top scorers for Revere vs. Saugus with 2.5 points apiece.

In a match two days later vs. Lynn Classical, Visconti continued his impressive play, scoring 2.5 points against his Classical counterpart.