Football Pats battles early but falls to Lynn English

By Dom Nicastro

For one half on Friday night at Manning Field in Lynn, the Revere High School football team traded blows with one of the Greater Boston League’s most explosive teams. But injuries and missed chances proved costly, as the Patriots fell to Lynn English, 43-19, to drop to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in league play.

The Patriots came out sharp and physical, scoring on their opening drive when sophomore quarterback Jose Fuentes pushed across the goal line from the 1-yard line. Fuentes then added the extra point to give Revere a 7-0 lead. Lynn English responded with a long run that nearly went the distance, but senior captain Bryan Fuentes made a highlight-reel, touchdown-saving tackle. The Bulldogs, however, scored later on the same drive to tie it 7-7. Revere regained the lead on its next possession. A 51-yard march, built on strong runs from Fuentes and sophomore back Reda Atoui, ended with Atoui bursting in from six yards out for a 13-7 advantage. English answered twice in the second quarter to take a 19-13 halftime lead. Revere came up just short on a fourth-down try deep in Bulldog territory before the break — one of a few drives that stalled near the red zone.

Revere coach Lou Cicatelli said the first half was among Revere’s best of the season. “It was close. It was a tale of two halves, to be honest,” he said. “We played them very well. First half, we had the lead, and a couple of mistakes and before you know it, it was 19-13. And second half, we kind of unraveled a little bit. A lot of guys got hurt, which is a problem we’re dealing with this week.”

The turning point came midway through the third quarter. “They got an onside kick,” Cicatelli said. “At some point I was going to try it. It was just one of those games — back and forth, back and forth. And then, of course, unfortunately for us, Jose got knocked out of the game midway through the third, and that kind of put the kibosh on it all for us.”

English capitalized, scoring four unanswered touchdowns after halftime to pull away.

Before exiting with a hip injury, Atoui continued his breakout season, rushing for over 100 yards for the second time this year. He broke a 40-yard run into Bulldog territory and later scored from 16 yards out in the fourth quarter for Revere’s final touchdown.

Cicatelli confirmed Atoui will likely miss at least one week. “Reda is probably not going to flip it this week,” he said. “Losing Reda is going to hurt us a little bit, because he’s going to be out on defense and offense.”

The Patriots left Manning Field battered. Fuentes left the game after a hard hit in the third quarter but said afterward he expects to play against Somerville. Charles Dobre suffered a bad ankle sprain and will be evaluated late in the week.

“Jose says he’s playing. He’s okay,” Cicatelli said. “Charles, we’re going to rest him all week. We’ll let him do a walkthrough on Thursday and play it from there.”

Despite the loss, Cicatelli praised his team’s effort on defense. “Bryan Fuentes, he’s had a monster year so far,” the coach said. “He’s just a great leader. He’s the guy that I blitz now and then, and he always gets there. He’s a smart player.”

With Atoui out and several players banged up, Revere will make changes on defense. “We’re going to move Filipe DeMelo, who’s my safety — we’re going to put him in at outside linebacker,” Cicatelli said. “Mario [Ramirez] is okay, so we’ll keep him inside this week. And we’ll know Thursday if Charles can go at defensive end.”

He added that DeMelo and cornerback Joey Angiulo continue to grow as reliable contributors. “They’ve been solid. They come up in run support and make plays,” he said.

Revere visits Somerville on Friday night, Oct. 10, for another key GBL matchup. The Highlanders (4-1) lean heavily on their ground game, including a Wildcat package led by Ryan Louis.

“Somerville runs a lot of Wildcat and a lot of pistol — kind of a double-wing look — and they’re all power,” Cicatelli said. “They’re looking to run the football, basically. So we need a few more kids up there, especially at linebacker. But I think we’ll be competitive. We always are with Somerville.”

He added, “These kids have just got to find a way to finish football games. That was the problem we had, of course, not just with English — we play everyone tough in the first half.”