Seniors time to shine: Revere notches shutout win over Malden

By Dom Nicastro

It was Senior Night. The last official home game for Revere High School football seniors.

Abbas Atoui admitted he had some butterflies. “I was very nervous if I’m being honest,” Atoui said. “It was my third game back from injury, and I knew everyone would be watching.”

They got an eyeful of No. 5. The senior captain scored from one, five and 15 yards out on a three-touchdown night, helping lead the Patriots to a 27-0 win over Malden at Harry Della Russo Stadium last week.

The Greater Boston League victory put the Patriots at 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the league. It wasn’t good enough to get a spot in the playoffs, but it was Revere’s second win in the last three games.

“After I scored the first touchdown, I knew it was going to be a big game for me and after the game closed, I was extremely happy at what we had accomplished,” Atoui said. “Carrying the ball felt amazing, but all credit goes to the offensive line. They were firing on all cylinders like a well-oiled machine and gave me the space to do what I do best.”

Giovanni Woodard scored the team’s other touchdown from 10 yards away; the defense stifled the Golden Tornadoes all night. The offensive line against Malden was comprised of left tackle senior Ethan Romagos, left guard Nico Aguirre, center Bryan Maia, right guard senior Rafael Teixeira and right tackle senior Carlos Jimenez.

“I think our defensive line shocked Malden,” fellow Revere senior captain Hakim Malki said. “They’re known for being some of the biggest offensive linemen in the GBL. We got penetration up front and gave our linebackers clean shots at the ball. Victor Andrade made play after play at middle backer. Danny Hou took advantage of the pressure on the young quarterback and picked off two balls that night. Ethan Romagos did a great job at defensive end keeping constant pressure on the quarterback and sacking him twice.”

Senior Ahmed Bellemsieh and senior captain Walter Rodriguez also had special nights on defense in helping Revere net the shutout. Andrade ended up with more than 10 tackles, and Rodriguez held down the defensive line very well. Bellemsieh was sticking kids all game, making his presence on the field known, according to Atoui. Senior Anthony Pham at defensive tackle and Malki took care of penetration through Malden’s offense on the inside.

“All 11 players on the defense were key,” Rodriguez said. “We had 11 guys to the football every time. Ahmed had a great game. Victor did, too, but everyone wanted to hit, and that’s what it takes to win a football game.”

The way Revere played in its two victories was emblematic of the type of team it could have been, according to the seniors with whom the Advocate caught up. The Patriots were plagued by the injury bug for the last two seasons, holding them back.

“We had a lot of setbacks this season because of injuries,” Malki said. “I played Senior Night with an ongoing injury myself because no pain hurts more than the regret of standing on the sideline and watching your team win without you. I think fully healthy we would’ve only lost two games this season. We definitely lost some games we should have won. Beating Malden 27-0 was a proof to ourselves that we’re better than our record says we are.”

Rodriguez called the team the second-best team in the GBL (behind 7-1 Everett) when healthy and firing on all cylinders.

Atoui said the team at full strength could have had a playoff run. “When we are fully healthy there’s no stopping us,” he said, adding, “the last two years Revere has been plagued with injuries, and it has cost us games.”