Theriault, Danvers top Revere

DANVERS – After opening the season with losses to the likes of Marblehead, Beverly and Peabody, the Danvers football team?s hard work finally earned its desired result on Thursday evening in a 27-0 triumph over Revere, the first of Shawn Theriault?s tenure.?Winning certainly feels a lot better than losing,” joked the first-year head coach with the game ball tucked under his left arm. “We opened the season against three tough teams and ran into a couple of tough breaks along the way but the kids kept fighting for a win. It?s nice to finally get that monkey off our backs.”Strong defensive play was the story of the game for the Falcons, who forced nine punts, two turnovers and as many on downs.?They?ve gone through a gauntlet of strong offenses and played well, but our defense really rose to the occasion tonight,” lauded Theriault of the unit, which started strong with an interception from Richie Martino on the Patriots? third play of the game.After a scoreless first quarter, the hosts embarked on a 10-play, 90-yard drive finished off by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Nick Andreas (11-23, 85 yards) to fellow senior James English, who exploded off the line of scrimmage on a quick slant pattern.Filling in for injured feature back Chris Behen, Martino did most of the damage in the 2:32 sequence, rushing for 78 of his 126 total yards on eight touches. “We needed another running back to lean on and he stepped right in,” explained Theriault of Martino, who is primarily used as a tight end. “He runs hard and was able to make things happen tonight when there was nothing there for him.”A quick three and out from the Patriots gave way to a short scoring drive, which needed just three plays for Danvers to complete.Facing a second and ten, Martino made a great cut at the line before a clean spring to the Revere 6-yard line, before taking an ensuing handoff to paydirt with 4:18 remaining in the half.The teams would open the second half with an extremely sloppy third quarter that featured five punts, a Patriots fumble recovery and an ensuing turnover on downs forced by senior defensive lineman Skylar Falite, who broke in consecutive tackles for losses.On the visitors? second play of the final period, a lateral screen play from Murphy would hit the grass for a fumble that was recovered by Falcons senior linebacker Josh Manzanillo.Two plays and 29 seconds later, Martino crashed into the end zone from three yards out.Sophomore Matt Andreas would return a punt for a touchdown at the conclusion of Revere?s ensuing drive, racing 53 yards to the left pylon, untouched. Zach Dillon?s third successful PAT capped the scoring at 6:57.