Revere High School Sports Roundup: Patriots look to rebound against Gloucester; boys soccer offense erupts

By Dom Nicastro

Revere High’s football team ran into a Beverly ground attack it simply couldn’t slow down last weekend, while the Patriots’ boys soccer team continued its early-season surge with two more victories, and the volleyball team came through with a pair of wins during a busy three-match stretch.

Football falls at Beverly, turns attention to Gloucester

For a while, Revere was right where it wanted to be against Beverly.

The Patriots answered an early Panthers touchdown with a strong drive of their own, getting productive runs from Reda Atoui before Anthony Pelatere finished the possession with an 8-yard touchdown run. Emmanuel Lopera added the extra point for a 7-6 Revere lead.

Beverly regained the lead, but Revere responded immediately. Amari Miller-Tobey broke loose on a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and Lopera’s PAT made it 14-14 early in the second quarter.

Coach Lou Cicatelli said assistant coach Vinny Gregorio had installed the middle return specifically for the game.

“He just put that middle return in, and it was beautiful,” Cicatelli said. “It worked out really nice.”

From there, however, Beverly took control. The Panthers scored twice more before halftime and eventually handed Revere a 35-16 loss, dropping the Patriots to 1-1.

Cicatelli said the biggest issue was straightforward: Revere couldn’t stop Beverly’s running game.

“When you can’t stop the run, it’s going to be a long day, and it’s going to be a slow death,” Cicatelli said. “They were better than I thought they were on film. They were a lot bigger, and they were definitely a lot stronger.”

Revere also wore down as the game progressed with several players seeing extensive action on both sides of the ball.

“We were moving the ball well early,” Cicatelli said. “We kind of just ran out of gas. A lot of kids playing both ways. It finally got us, but no excuses. We’ve got to do better.”

Lopera was another bright spot. Cicatelli praised the kicker for his work against both Quincy and Beverly, particularly his ability to help Revere with field position.

The Patriots also got an encouraging performance from freshman quarterback Joshua Farro. Cicatelli said Farro threw the ball well enough against Beverly to earn the starting assignment this week.

“He came in, he threw the ball. He looked tremendous,” Cicatelli said. “I was very happy.”

Revere is also dealing with injuries. Miller-Tobey and Joey Angiulo are day to day, while Bryan Maia is out with a sprained shoulder. Jose Fuentes, who has been sidelined, could return in a limited or situational role.

Revere hosts Gloucester Friday, Sept. 25, at 6 p.m. The Fishermen are 1-1 after beating Stoneham, 14-6, and falling to St. Mary’s, 20-16.

Cicatelli expects a physical challenge from Gloucester’s Wing-T attack, which features plenty of belly, trap, buck sweep and power runs. Gloucester’s been a playoff team in Division 3 the last two seasons.

“It’s not hard to figure it out,” Cicatelli said. “It’s just hard to stop.”

Boys soccer piles up 11 goals in two victories

Revere boys soccer continued its impressive early-season run with victories over Lynn English and Haverhill, scoring 11 goals across the two matches.

The Patriots again made things difficult on themselves against Lynn English, falling behind 1-0 early in the second half. But Revere’s conditioning and persistence took over late.

The Patriots scored three times over the final 15 minutes to earn a 3-1 victory. Zayd Hamra, Sebastian Catano and Lukas Guerra supplied the goals.

Coach Gerardo Rodriguez said the comeback continued an early-season theme: Revere hasn’t always put itself in the best position early, but its ability to maintain its level throughout an 80-minute match has made a difference.

“The one positive is that we are running teams to the ground,” Rodriguez said.

Revere then exploded offensively in an 8-3 victory at Haverhill.

The Patriots led 4-1 at halftime and eventually stretched the advantage to 7-1 before Rodriguez went deep into his bench over the final 15 minutes.

Revere’s starting front line accounted for seven goals. Imran Sarhrani scored three, while Jeronimo Agudelo Alvarez and Francisco Navarette scored twice apiece. The other Revere goal came on a Haverhill own goal.

Rodriguez was particularly pleased with Revere’s overall control of the match and its defensive work. Two of Haverhill’s goals resulted from Revere mistakes while attempting to play the ball out of the back, but Rodriguez said those growing pains are part of the possession-oriented style he wants his team to develop rather than simply sending the ball downfield.

Volleyball takes two of three

Revere volleyball put together a winning week, sweeping Chelsea and surviving a five-set battle against Malden Catholic around a narrow loss to Medford.

The Patriots opened the stretch with a 3-0 victory over Chelsea. Sarah Lechheb and Sofia Guzman led the attack with six kills apiece, while Bella Cushing recorded four aces.

Two days later, Revere went the distance against Medford before falling, 3-2. Lechheb delivered a big offensive performance with 15 kills, Haley Peralta added 10 kills and Anna Doucette finished with 19 assists and three aces.

The Patriots bounced right back with another five-set match, this time emerging with a 3-2 victory over Malden Catholic.

Guzman had nine kills, Peralta added seven and Lechheb contributed six. Revere also received production from two setters, with Doucette handing out 14 assists and Caleigh Joyce adding nine.

Coach Emilie Clemons’ team entered another busy week with three matches on the schedule: road contests against Lynn English and Malden followed by a home match against Swampscott on Thursday.