Sports 10-03-2018

RhS sports Roundup

RHS football team defeats Peabody in thrilling, but costly, victory

Players, coaches, and fans alike know that injuries are an inevitable part of the game of football at every level of competition.

However, last Friday night’s contest at Peabody proved to be a tough one for the Revere High football team even by the usual standards of the sport.

Although the Patriots prevailed in thrilling fashion to hold on for a 27-25 victory, the triumph proved a costly one for coach Lou Cicatelli and his crew, who saw four of their teammates leave the field with injuries.

“This was one of the toughest games for me ever as a a coach,” said Cicatelli, referring to the succession of various injuries to Zach Furlong, Jonathan Tran, Mazer Ali, and especially Joe Alannos, who suffered a broken leg. “It was a very difficult night.”

As for the game itself, the Patriots roared into Peabody and pushed the Tanners all over the field. Revere opened the contest with a 60-yard touchdown drive, mixing the running and passing game nicely behind quarterback Jonathan Murphy, who has performed brilliantly since assuming the helmsmanship of the Patriot offense in the middle of the second game of the season when starting quarterback Calvin Boudreau suffered a broken collarbone.

Captain Darius McNeil gashed the Tanner defense with his powerful, between-the-tackles running; speedy tailback Lucas Barbosa made a big gain on a jet sweep; and Murphy (who was 7-of-13 for 113 yards and three rushing touchdowns on the night) connected with Eric Bua for another nice chunk of yardage that brought the Patriots to the Peabody six-yard line, from where Barbosa scored the first Revere TD. The extra point by sophomore Rayan Riazi — the first of three key PAT conversions by Rayan — gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead.

Revere was back in business shortly thereafter when Bill Ginepra stripped the ball from an opponent and defensive end Ali pounced on the loose pigskin deep inside Peabody territory. With McNeil pounding away, the Pats moved the ball to the enemy two-yard line from where Murphy powered his way into the end zone to make it 13-0.

The Tanners’ offense came to life to cut the margin to 13-6, but the Patriots responded before the end of the half with a nice drive, keyed by a 40 yard ramble by Barbosa and a 35-yard connection from Murphy-to-Bua that ended with Jonathan once again going over the goal line from close range for a 20-6 Revere lead at the half.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third period. The Patriots’ score was keyed by a kickoff return by Alannos to the Peabody one yard line that led to another Murphy TD on a sneak and a successful kick by Riazi for a 27-13 Revere advantage entering the final period.

However, with four starters now felled by injury, Cicatelli turned to his younger players, including Nixon Morales and Ryan Doucette, to fill key roles, while also using other starters to plug the holes in the Patriots’ lineup.

Peabody launched a pair of touchdown drives that brought them within the cusp of forcing the game into overtime. However, a clutch, goal-line stand on a two-point conversion attempt, on which Zach Carifeo and captain Devin Matthias stuffed the Peabody runner, proved ultimately to be the key play of the game.

“I am incredibly proud of the way our team handled adversity,” said Cicatelli. “It was a tough game for us on many levels, but everybody stepped up and did what they had to do.”

Cicatelli and his crew, who improved to 2-2 after an 0-2 start, are amidst a stretch of their schedule on the road. They will make the short bus ride down the Parkway Friday evening to take on Medford. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:00.

 

RHS girls cross

country edges Malden

The Revere High girls cross country team faced Malden this past Friday on the Lady Golden Tornados’ home course at Pine Banks Park after a mosquito problem at Revere’s Belle Isle course forced the meet to be rescheduled and moved.

The changes left coach Katie Sinnott’s squad a bit shorthanded, missing two of the Lady Patriots’ top runners, as well as a couple of other key team members. Despite those obstacles, Revere pulled out a victory in a very close race that featured several sprinting finishes that made for a very exciting race.

The outcome of the meet  came down to the fifth runner for each team, with Lady Patriot sophomore Skyla McNamara gutting out a final push to beat her opponent by one second.

“Every girl on the team stepped up and raced well,” said Sinnott. “I am extremely proud of all of them.  It was a true team win, with every girl helping the team.  Seven runners ran personal best paces, which is awesome.”

Revere girls earning personal bests were: Freshmen Carly Bennet and Dianne Mancio, sophomores Yulissa Santana Baez and Skyla McNamara, as well as juniors Salome Gezehagn, Nawal Khan, and Salma Hazimeh.

“Dianne Mancio was also the most improved runner from last week’s race,” noted Sinnott. “She took off a whopping three-plus minutes per mile.”

Overall Results:

Revere = 25, Malden = 30

Individual Results:

Leila Cesic – 2nd overall – 23:10

Soleil Yuong – 3rd overall – 23:23

Carly Bennett – 5th overall – 23:47

Yulissa Santana Baez – 6th overall – 25:04

Skyla McNamara – 9th overall – 27:22

Gabrielle O’Brien – 11th overall – 27:54

Dianne Mancio – 13th overall – 28:30

Salome Gezehagn – 16th overall – 29:19

Nawal Khan – 18th overall – 29:33

Salma Hazimeh – 21st overall – 33:12

BelmaMujic – 24th overall – 40:02

Sinnott and her crew are scheduled to travel to Lynn English tomorrow (Thursday) at the Lynn Woods course.

 

RHS boys outrun

Malden, 23-28

The Revere High boys cross country defeated Malden this past Friday, outrunning the Golden Tornados on their home course at Pine Banks after a mosquito issue force the meet to be moved from the Patriots’ home course at Belle Isle last Wednesday.

Christian Madrid led the Patriots across the finish line with a strong performance in 17:33 that earned Christian second place. A succession of Revere runners soon followed, with Will Martinez in third in 17:55, Victor Pelatere in fifth spot in 18:15, captain Jonathan Nushi in sixth in 18:19, and fellow captain Scott Montefusco in seventh in 18:45.

Fabio Tran (19:12) and Antony Arias (19:30) also finished in the top 10 for Revere, followed by teammates James Carpinelli (20:10), Marco Cerbone (20:59), and Steven Leone (21:32).

“This was a really nice team victory,” said RHS head coach Mike Flynn. “We were missing some of our team, but our depth proved to be the key to the win.”

Flynn and his crew will face Lynn English tomorrow (Thursday) on the treacherous course at Lynn Woods.

 

Veterans, new players

contributing to RHS golf

The Revere High golf team has had a busy opening month of the season.

Coach Brandon Pezzuto’s Patriots began their season with the 3rd Annual Golf Tournament that was held at Hillview Golf Course in North Reading. The tournament was a tremendous success thanks to the support of the friends of the RHS golf program.

The Patriots, who presently stand at 2-6 on the season with wins over Everett and Lynn English. are led by senior captain Matthew Cravotta and junior captain Dante Raffa.

Returning players who have shown much improvement since last year and who are playing significant roles on the team are juniors Michael Hayes, Michael Marchese, and William Ly.

Golfers new to the program this year who have participated in varsity matches include juniors Luke Caciaco and Hussain Alharbi, as well as sophomores Kyle Gove and Ryan Powers.

“Our team has been working diligently on improving our games and learning the proper fundamentals, rules, and etiquette necessary to enjoy the game of golf during their time at RHS and beyond,” said Pezzuto, who himself was a member of the RHS golf team during his days at Revere High. “Our primary goal for the golf program at RHS is for student-athletes to understand and appreciate the values and lessons ingrained in the foundations of golf in order to enjoy and spread the game in the future.”

The Patriots’ have upcoming matches at Lynn English next Tuesday and at Lynn Classical next Wednesday.

Revere High School sports, Pop Warner put focus on preventing concussions

By Cary Shuman

Concussions and impacts to the head are an important topic in the National Football League and in contact sports at all levels.

In Revere, the high school athletic program and Pop Warner organization have concussion protocols in place. Revere High Director of Athletics Frank Shea and Revere Pop Warner Patrick Keefe said the educational process begins well in advance of the seasons.

“Every coach in every sport is required to take an online concussion course every year before each season,” said Shea, who keeps the course completion certificates on file.

According to Shea, an athletic trainer is present at all RHS football games.

“If a player sustains a hard hit to the head and appears to be injured, the trainer implements a series of concussion protocols,” said Shea. “If no trainer is present at an athletic event, the coach would act in place of the trainer, and that’s where through their online training, they’re able to put the athlete through concussion protocols.

“If there is any question about the athlete possibly having a concussion, that athlete is required to sit out for the remainder of the game,” said Shea. “Any individual who sustains a concussion reports to our trainer, Keith Correia. If Keith decides to keep that athlete off the field, he/she is not allowed to return for the next game unless he/she has received clearance from a physician. The athletes have to pass several steps in the recovery process – such as jogging one day and running with their equipment on the next day. They must build themselves up before returning to the field.”

Shea added that every Revere High athlete participating in a contact sport has to take an online impact test.

“It gives the athlete a baseline that Keith Correia has on file,” said Shea. “If an athlete sustains a concussion, Keith can look at that information and determine where the athlete is on that baseline and whether the athlete is able to return to the field. That’s another safeguard we use.”

 

Pop Warner coaches take

 preseason training courses

Patrick Keefe said all Pop Warner coaches take a 10-hour online training course before the start of preseason practices on Aug. 1.

“We also have in our organization a player safety coach [George Chafin], who attends an in-person training session,” said Keefe. “So each coach and the safety coach are trained well about concussions.”

Keefe believes that the best preventative method for avoiding concussions is “teaching proper tackling and football techniques such as using the shoulder as opposed to the helmet or having your head down.

“We have what is called a ‘heads-up training’ in which players are taught more of a rugby style tackle where the hope is that head-to-head collisions will be reduced,” said Keefe.

Keefe said whenever a player sustains a hard hit to the head, “we will immediately take that player off the field and have them examined by a medic, who will analyze whether that player may have sustained a concussion.

“We always make a judgment on the side of caution,” said Keefe. “The decision whether a player returns for the next game is up to the physician. We want our players to be safe and not develop any long-term issues with playing football. When done right, football can be a really safe sport.”

According to Keefe, because of the training of the coaches and the overall awareness of concussions in sports, there have been a limited number of concussions in Revere Pop Warner.

Keefe said that the organization also uses the safest football helmets available.

“We’re constantly updating our helmets with the newest technology,” said Keefe. “We use a Riddell Speed Helmet that is similar to those worn in the NFL. We make sure that our helmets are maintained and refurbished every other year, which is mandated by Pop Warner football.”