MALDEN — The defensive unit was the high point of the game for the Revere football team on Thursday night as the Patriots shut out Malden, 16-0, at MacDonald Field.
The Patriots caught four interceptions as a team, forced and recovered one fumble and blocked a punt in the win. James Kioussis had the biggest game of all the Revere defenders, notching two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt. Zachary Furlong and Lucas Barbosa each had one interception.
“James has been a man for us all year, he’s a complete player,” said Revere coach Lou Cicatelli. “He does it on defense, he does it on offense. And he’s young, so he’s only got room to grow.”
The offense was anchored by running back Darius McNeil, who rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown. Furlong also rushed for a touchdown in the win.
The first half was a defensive struggle on both sides. Malden put together a nine-play drive on its first possession, but then quarterback Jose Montiero threw an interception to Kioussis to end any chance of scoring on that drive. The Golden Tornadoes then forced Revere into a turnover on downs, but it only took four offensive plays for Montiero to throw his second interception of the game, this time to Barbosa.
The pick was returned 44 yards deep into Malden territory, but the Patriots once again stalled out and couldn’t score. However, they did pin the Golden Tornadoes deep on a punt, setting themselves up well for the next drive.
Then, with 5:33 left in the first half and after forcing a fourth-and-13 from the Malden 12-yard line, the Patriots lined up to receive the punt. But that wouldn’t be necessary, as Kioussis blasted through the line and dove in front of the punter to block the kick. The ball ricocheted out of the back of the end zone for a safety, giving the Patriots a 2-0 lead.
The offense started to come around in the second half for Revere. The first drive of the half was a big one, as the Patriots marched 58 yards in seven plays and took 5:24 off the clock before Furlong broke through a hole and ran for a 24-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 9-0. The play was nearly a disaster after quarterback Calvin Boudreau fumbled the snap, but he quickly picked it up and made the pitch to Furlong to save the play.
The Patriots then forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, got the ball back and went on another long drive to take over six and a half minutes off the clock.
Although that drive didn’t result in points, Revere forced a fumble on Malden’s next drive and then sealed the game with an eight-play, 79-yard drive. McNeil rushed for 58 of the 79 yards on the drive, including a 41-yard run, before capping the drive with a four-yard touchdown carry to make it 16-0.
With the Patriots now at 2-8 on the year, only one goal remains: beat Winthrop on Thanksgiving.
“Obviously, with a game like that, you can just throw the records out the window,” said Cicatelli. “We want to make it two years in a row with a win over them, but we’ve still got a lot of things to work on. We made plenty of mistakes with penalties and negative plays, so we’re going to get to work and make sure we’re ready to go when we take the field in Winthrop in two weeks.”
The Patriots and the Vikings will square off at Winthrop High on Thanksgiving Day.
