Football Pats hit a roadblock at Newburyport; Belmont forfeits upcoming game

By Dom Nicastro

Revere High School football had more than a sugar high on Halloween night. It beat Everett for the second straight season for its second in a row against the GBL giant to close out the first part of its regular season at 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the Greater Boston League.

But a week later, it had arguably its two worst losses: one on the football field and one off. Revere fell to Newburyport, 27-6, Friday night, Nov. 7, in the consolation round then learned a few days later it would not possibly have a football game the following week, giving the players a 20-day lull between games. The Patriots were scheduled to play Belmont at home Friday night, Nov. 14, but, according to a call to The Advocate from Revere coach Lou Cicatelli on Tuesday morning, Nov. 11, Belmont decided not to play and will forfeit.

Cicatelli said Belmont, which is 0-9 and has scored just 36 points this entire season, felt it could not compete with Revere and decided not to play. An email from The Advocate to Belmont Athletics Director Adam Pritchard on Tuesday morning went unreturned as of press time. Frank Shea, athletics director for Revere High School, told The Advocate he got a call from Belmont’s athletics director Monday night, Nov. 10, informing him of the decision not to play the Patriots.

The consolation round is a two-week round in which teams that don’t make the MIAA playoffs and those who lose in the first round compete against one another in a weekly makeshift schedule. Shea said teams can opt out of consolation-round games by Saturday afternoon (in this case Nov. 8), a week ahead of the games. But Belmont, he said, informed Revere of its decision on Monday, Nov. 10, “which leaves us scrambling because all the matchups have been made.”

“I think they’ve just had enough,” Shea said. “They’re 0-9. I think they felt this game meant nothing, and they wouldn’t be competitive. That was me reading between the lines. They cited some scores, some lopsided scores. … It’s unfortunate for our kids and our team, but it is what it is. You can’t force somebody to play you. The only gripe I had I told their AD is you should have just taken a bye.”

Instead, Revere, as of The Advocate’s press time on early evening Tuesday, was searching for an opponent. That would be a tall order considering the second week of the consolation round’s games are set. The Patriots would need to find an opponent that took a bye within the rules but would now reconsider by taking on Revere. Maybe even find a foe out of state; many Massachusetts teams put out-of-state teams on their schedule; it is unclear if that is allowed in this case.

If they didn’t find a foe, the Patriots would have a 20-day lull between their final two games: Friday, Nov. 7, against Newburyport; and Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 27, at home against Winthrop (10 a.m.).

Belmont has been shut out five times. It is coming off five brutal defeats: 41-0 against Arlington, 50-0 against Woburn, 41-0 against Reading, 42-8 against Winchester, 40-0 against Wayland.

Cicatelli finds no excuses, however, for opting out of a game with four days’ notice. “You don’t do that,” Cicatelli said. “I’m shocked. You leave us hanging. You could have taken the bye week. A lot of teams do that. And they didn’t do that. Now I have to get creative with our boys. I will. It’s going to take some creativity on our part to make things work — keep them together, which we will.”

Revere gets a forfeit win and improves to 4-6. Belmont drops to 0-10.

Meanwhile, can Belmont just do this without a repercussion outside a simple forfeit loss? The MIAA handbook does not specifically address conditions around consolation-round cancellation rules or single-game cancellations. It only covers rules when a team cancels a season after playing one official game. An email to the MIAA on the matter went unreturned as of press time.

As for Revere’s work on the football field, the Patriots fell to Newburyport, 27–6, on the road Friday night in the first round of the consolation bracket — a frustrating follow-up to their 21–14 win over Everett that had marked back-to-back victories over the Crimson Tide for the first time in recent memory. Revere (4–6) had little rhythm on offense against the Clippers.

“It was close in the first half — it was only 7-0 — but offensively, we were awful,” said Cicatelli. “We couldn’t get any sustained drives. They pinned us deep all night.”

The Patriots’ defense held strong for much of the game but couldn’t contain Newburyport quarterback Jack Miller, who used his legs and arm to keep drives alive.

Cicatelli credited his defensive unit with keeping Revere within reach until late in the third quarter. “It wasn’t as bad as the score looked,” he said. “We gave up one big play and a few short-field touchdowns. The defense was on the field all night.”

Revere’s lone score came midway through the second half on a one-yard run by senior running back Reda Atoui, following an interception by linebacker Bryan Fuentes that briefly gave the Patriots a spark.

The loss dropped Revere to 3–6 overall at the time, dampening the momentum from consecutive wins over Malden and Everett that had reignited hopes of a strong finish. The Patriots had scored 61 combined points in those two wins and appeared to be rounding into form behind a dominant offensive line and the return of key players from injury.

Now, they’ll have to regroup — and possibly do so entirely on the practice field for two and a half weeks before hosting the Vikings on Turkey Day. “We’ve got to get back to practicing the right way,” Cicatelli said. “When we’re healthy, and we play with energy, we can compete with anybody.”