The Revere High School football team will be looking for its eighth victory of the season when it hosts Winthrop High in the annual Thanksgiving game Thursday at 10 a.m. at Harry Della Russo Stadium.
By now, it’s widely known that Coach Lou Cicatelli’s contingent encountered a major setback by not receiving a much-deserved berth in the playoff despite its 6-2 record in the regular season, currently 7-2 following a 28-0 win over Belmont from the highly competitive Middlesex League. Coupled with Revere’s 29-7 record over the past four seasons, the team’s seniors can put the finishing touches on the greatest stretch in school history with a win over the Vikings.
Winthrop (5-5) did qualify for the playoffs, defeating South Hadley (35-0) before losing a close contest (37-34) to Rockland, who has advanced to the Division 6 Super Bowl.
“I always say our game against Winthrop is our Super Bowl every year,†related Cicatelli. “It’s a big game. It’s for bragging rights. It’s for the trophy that we’ve had for the last four years, and we don’t want to give it back. It’s a big day for the seniors, who want to win their final game. To have an 8-2 season, which I think is a great year – I just think it shows that this team wasn’t definitely a playoff team.â€
Cicatelli and his staff have viewed Winthrop on film. Revere teammates, center Patrick Keefe III and Dominic Boudreau, who’s really emerged on both sides of the football in the second half of the season, attended Winthrop’s playoff game versus South Hadley at Miller Field.
“Make no mistake about it, Winthrop is a very good football team,†said Cicatelli. “Their quarterback [Robert Noonan] is very good. Their running backs [Cam Martin and Welvis Acosta] are very good. They played a lot of good teams, and they can score points in a hurry. “They’re good on defense and they do a lot of things very well. So, it’s going to be a great game. Our team has had an impressive run the past four seasons, and this would be the icing on the cake to get a big ‘W’ Thursday morning.â€
Barreto Ready for the Finale
Revere running back Davi Barreto is the team’s leading scorer with 10 touchdowns. The speedy senior also had close to 1,000 yards rushing heading into the finale.
Meanwhile, Anwar Marbouh has exceeded all expectations at the quarterback position this season. “Anwar has been spectacular,†lauded Cicatelli. “He’s a great leader. He can manage a game and has great numbers.â€
Marbouh succeeded All-Scholastic quarterback Calvin Boudreau (Curry College) and delivered a solid season at the controls of the offense.
Paul Norton Excels as Offensive Coordinator
The Revere offense, led by coordinator Paul Norton, has averaged 28 points per game this season.
“The offensive has just been clicking, we’ve been putting up a lot of points,†said Cicatelli. “Coach Norton does a great job with the offense. He gets the kids motivated and puts a new wrinkle or two each week into the game plan.â€
Four Revere Players Are Selected GBL All-Stars
Four Revere High School football players, senior captains Augusto Gonclves, Elmahdi Elkeaouakibi, and Wilmer Mejia-Rodriguez, and junior captain Max Doucette were selected to the Greater Boston League All-Star by a vote of the coaches.