Everett football spooked by Revere on Halloween with frightening comeback effort

Crimson Tide looks to bounce back against non-playoff host Cambridge Friday night at Russell Field

By Joe McConnell

The Everett High School football team (2-6) came within minutes of snapping its six-game losing streak, only to see host Revere pull out the victory at Harry Della Russo Stadium on Halloween night, 21-14. The Crimson Tide led, 14-13, late in the fourth quarter before the Patriots staged the late comeback.

Coach Rob DiLoreto was pleased with his team’s play in this game, as they continue to work hard to get that elusive third win. “I was impressed with the determination that our team played with against Revere,” said DiLoreto. “We were trailing, 13-0 at the half, and also turned the ball over four times. But our kids fought hard through those setbacks and responded very well in the second half. We battled back to take the lead, 14-13 late in the fourth quarter, but just could not hold on to it.”

Junior quarterback Tyler Freni scored one of the team’s two touchdowns from one yard out. It was in addition to another extraordinary statistical game from the young signal caller, who also completed six passes for 91 yards and carried the ball 22 times for 139 yards.

Freni’s classmates Jamauri Dulin (6 carries, 27 yards) and Steven Thomas (6 for 20 yards) did their part to sustain drives on the ground. Senior Marcus Pierre was credited with 10 yards on five carries. Sammy Lacombe, also a senior, chewed up 19 yards on just two carries.

Junior Armani Negron was credited with the other Everett touchdown in the game after hooking up with Freni on a 47-yard scoring strike. Dulin also caught up with three of Freni’s passes for 21 yards to go along with six of his aforementioned rushes. Jeremiah Clark added his name to the junior band of football brothers with two receptions against Revere for 23 yards.

It was a low scoring, competitive game, and ultimately it turned into a frustrating loss for a team starving for a win. But as the Super Bowl playoffs begin Friday night, Nov. 7, across the eight divisions in the state, involving the Top 16 clubs in each grouping, DiLoreto hopes to use the next three weeks against non-playoff teams to give many of his younger players a chance to gain even more experience on the varsity level that also includes a solid junior class.

The Cambridge Falcons (4-4) will be hosting the Tide on Friday night at Russell Field, starting at 7 p.m. to begin those non-playoff slate of games. The Dual County League team could have participated in the playoffs, but they decided to opt out. Everett finished up as the 28^th seed in Division 1. There are 33 teams in this division.

“We are going to continue to work hard every day on the practice field, and do our very best to improve,” said DiLoreto. “I believe in these kids, and we will work tirelessly to perform better as a team.”

Regarding his thoughts on Cambridge, DiLoreto says that they run a spread offense, utilizing both a passing attack and a solid run game, and he plans on employing a defense that will, hopefully, slow down those threats.