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Everett hopes to bounce back against host Revere on Halloween at 5 p.m.
By Joe McConnell
It was another two days of memorable Homecoming Weekend experiences around the city. The fanfest last Friday night at Glendale Park kicked things off. It featured all of the fall sports athletes getting introduced by their respective coaches. A fireworks display culminated the fun-filled evening for the attendees.
The next day started early with the Homecoming Hustle 5K walk / run race in memory of Janet Connolly O’Neill, a former Everett teacher, who passed away in 2002 from breast cancer. There was also a Homecoming Breakfast in the Everett High School cafeteria that raised money for the school’s athletic programs. It all led up to a tailgating party and the Traditional Walk of Champions into Everett Memorial Stadium that included many of former coach John DiBiaso’s stars, who were there to see the field get renamed in his honor. John, his wife Maureen and daughter Kristina were the guests of honor for the ceremony. After the field dedication, everybody settled down to watch this year’s team host Greater Boston League rival Lynn English. If you like a lot of offense, both teams provided it, but unfortunately the Crimson Tide (2-5) was on the short end of the scoreboard, 50-35.
Except for the final score, current coach and native son Rob DiLoreto thought the entire Homecoming Weekend was a tremendous success.
“Homecoming Weekend was an amazing event for the entire City of Everett,” DiLoreto said. “Every event was first class. The band, cheerleaders and players started it off by visiting our Everett schools on Friday, and then there was the amazing pep rally at Glendale Park that night, followed by Saturday’s 5K run and Pancake Breakfast.
“The Walk of Champions was a tremendous tribute to the former EHS players, who went on to play in the NFL. Their families also took part in the walk to the Stadium. But the highlight of the event was seeing Coach DiBiaso, the greatest coach of all-time, have the field at Everett (Memorial) Stadium dedicated in his honor. Seeing Coach Dibs, and many of his assistant coaches and players there with him had me and the entire city gleaming with pride.”
But after all that, it was time for the main event that featured the Everett offense entertaining the fans with a lot of points after chewing up a lot of yards.
“We accumulated 305 rushing yards, which is a credit to the hard work put in by our offensive line and the aggressive running of our quarterback (Tyler Freni) and running backs,” said DiLoreto. “The players have been working extremely hard in practice, and we hope it continues to grow, particularly the running game, in our next four games.
“But our defense could not stop the Lynn English running attack, but I know our players gave their best effort, and they will continue to work hard to improve on defending against the run going forward,” added the Everett coach.
Freni, a junior quarterback, completed three passes for 82 yards, but it was his running legs that got the offense going. He carried the ball 28 times for 156 yards and ended up scoring four of the team’s five touchdowns in the game. He will never forget this Homecoming Day for his individual prowess.
His classmate Steven Thomas accumulated 50 yards on nine carries. Senior running back Marcus Pierre ran the ball nine times for 84 yards. Junior tight end Armani Negron caught two passes for 52 yards. Freshman Jerol Zamor hauled in one pass for 30 yards.
Negron, on defense, assisted on three tackles and was credited with two solo stops. Freni had four solos, while helping out on four other hits. Junior Jamauri Dulin recovered one fumble.
The Crimson Tide hopes to get back into the win column Friday night (Oct. 31) against host Revere at Harry Della Russo Stadium, starting at 5 p.m.
