Football Patriots fall to Vikings on Thanksgiving

  The Revere Patriots closed out the 2022 season with their third straight defeat by losing to the Winthrop Vikings, 25-6, in their annual Thanksgiving Day contest last Thursday at Miller Field in Winthrop. It was a similar storyline to many of Revere’s losses this season – falling behind by double digits in the first half and not being able to recover.

  Having won the previous five Thanksgiving games in the 94-year-old series, Revere came into last Thursday’s contest hoping to make it six in a row.  But the host Vikings, who finished 7-4 on the season, were determined to put a halt to that recent trend.

  The Patriots turned the ball over three times in the first half and that materialized into 18 points for Winthrop, which owned an 18-0 advantage at halftime. Faced with a three-possession deficit, Revere edged closer midway through the third quarter when quarterback Carlos Rizo completed a pass to Sami Elasri on a ball that was almost picked off for the Patriots’ only score. Revere failed on a two-point conversion try and trailed by 12 with over a quarter to play.

  Later, a Winthrop fumble on a completed pass recovered by Revere’s Abbas Attoui inside the Patriots’ five-yard line seemed to stop a Vikings’ drive. However, the pass was ruled incomplete. Revere head coach Lou Cicatelli told the press this week it was a play that could have changed the complexion of the game. It was not to be as the hosts ended up scoring on the drive and adding the extra point to account for the final margin.

  Winthrop established a 58-32 overall lead in the Thanksgiving series following this year’s triumph. There have been three ties. Cicatelli credited the Vikings for being the more physical team. “They wanted it more and they got it,” he said. “Defensively, we didn’t play very well.”

  A decrease in manpower impacted Revere’s season. The Patriots lost key players such as Max Doucette, receiver Domenic Boudreau and running back Davi Barreto to injury during the campaign. Over the final month, that factor seemed to catch up to the Patriots, who finished with a 4-7 record despite earning a berth in the Div. 3 state playoff tournament.

  Cicatelli acknowledged that injuries played a role in the season’s outcome but there are things to build on for 2023. “We had a lot of starters miss games. It was a tough year,” he said. “The record is disappointing but we made the playoffs, and that was one of our goals.”

  The Greater Boston League announced this year’s all-star team and four Revere players were chosen for the squad. They are Boudreau, Elasri, Jason Shosho and Maykin Fuentes Gonzalez.