New-look Revere beats Peabody for first win of the season

REVERE – When teams struggle such as Revere has through the first half of season, coaching staffs work overtime devising schemes that give their playmakers every opportunity to succeed.Which is precisely what Revere coach Lou Cicatelli and his staff did this week in the aftermath of last weekend’s loss to Salem, installing a Spread offense. The Patriots (1-5) responded with their first win, a 23-13 decision of Peabody Friday night at Della Russo Stadium.Standout senior captain and running back Tommy Portrait shifted to quarterback and ran the Spread with precision, completing 7-of-11 passes for 115 yards and two TDs and rushing 20 times for 79 yards. Senior captain Kaleb Silva (160 all-purpose yards) had touchdown receptions of 20 and 15 yards, rushed 11 times for 59 yards and one score, and returned three kicks for 66 yards. “This is such a big win. We put in a whole new offense Sunday and I can’t say enough how well Tommy and Kaleb played. It was a great team effort. We could’ve laid down but there is no quit in this team. These kids never lose focus,” Cicatelli said.The Patriots scored on each of three possessions in a flawless first half while holding Peabody to two first downs and 36 net yards.Peabody had no answer for Portrait. He contributed a 27-yard dash on Revere’s first possession, a 69-yard drive capped by his 23-yard scoring pass to Silva alone in the front left corner of the end zone. Steve Selevitch’s PAT made it 7-0 with 3:35 left in the period.Silva’s 28-punt return gave the Pats a short field at the Tanners’ 23 early in the second quarter. Portrait converted 3rd-and-13 into a 15-yard laser to Silva slanting in from the right to make it 14-0 with 8:39 left in the half.Selevitch’s 30-yard field goal finished a 48-yard drive and stretched Revere’s lead to 17-0 in the final minute of the half.The Patriots didn’t score on their first second-half possession of the second half but did consume the first 8:20 of the period, leaving Peabody less than 14 minutes to come back.They nearly did.Quarterback Mike Raymond lofted a 44-yard scoring strike to Andrew McLaughlin on the first play of the fourth quarter and Cody Wlasuk’s PAT made it 17-7. After recovering a fumbled punt at the Revere 48, the Tanners covered the distance in 10 plays with Wlasuk bouncing in from five yards on 4th-and-4 with 3:34 to play. Oddly, the Tanners went for two and failed, leaving them behind 17-13 and in need of a touchdown to win.That became moot when Silva shook free for a 24-yard TD with 1:51 to play, then intercepted Raymond to seal it with 1:31 left. “Our defensive line had a great rush and our outside linebackers (Silva and Mike Norton) had a ton of tackles. Just a great effort,” Cicatelli said.