Revere falls flat against Lynn English

The Revere High Patriots suffered their worst defeat of the season on Friday when they were annihilated, 40-0 by the Lynn English Bulldogs. The already-shorthanded Patriots suffered injuries to a pair of its key players during the loss, bringing the total number of injured starters to a distressing nine.

Quarterback Paul Norton took a hard hit in the first quarter, but stayed in the game as his team tried to battle a very fast and talented Lynn English squad. The vicious Bulldogs defense continued to pressure Norton, and finally knocked him out of the game with a mild concussion midway through the third quarter. Freshman James Love finished the game at quarterback in place of Norton.

Head coach Lou Cicatelli said that the team was impressed with the way that Love handled being thrown into an ugly game against a relentless defense. But, by the time he entered the game, Revere was already trailing by a few dozen points, and a comeback was all but out of the question. The team has not yet announced whether or not Norton will return for Friday’s game at Lynn Classical.

The Patriots also lost starting guard Rob Sasso in the second quarter after the sophomore took a hit on his head. Edson Cordeiro and Gil Deandrade played some extended time on the offensive and defensive lines to make up for Sasso’s absence. The team also got a lift from Brian Murphy, who made several tackles while filling in at nose guard in the third and fourth quarters. Sasso also remains questionable for Friday’s game against the Rams.

There is no way to determine how much better the Patriots would have faired were it not for the rash of injuries. But even with their full complement of players, Revere would have had its hands full against the speedy Bulldogs and, in particular, their star quarterback, Tyllor Macdonald, who Cicatelli declared was the best player he has seen in a game this season.

He single-handedly tore us apart, he said. We just couldn’t catch him. There were several times when we had him sacked or boxed in and he just got away and ran the ball down the field. He’s a very good player and too fast for us.

MacDonald threw four touchdown passes, rushed for one and accounted for 233 of the Bulldogs’ 354 total yards. His five-yard run in the first quarter gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, he fired two of his four TD passes to help Lynn English build a 24-0 advantage by halftime.

The Patriots (2-4) will have another tough task in front of them when they head back to Lynn for a game against the Rams. Classical may not have the speed that Lynn English has, but they are a bigger team on average and have won each of their last two games.

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