REVERE — Friday night’s Northeastern Conference matchup between the Classical football team and host Revere was an offensive clinic. Both teams combined for 10 touchdowns on the night, but in the end the Rams couldn’t keep up with a well-rounded Patriots attack in a 43-26 Revere win.
“Anytime you can move the ball around like that it’s big,” Revere coach Lou Cicatelli said. “We had five different guys score including Ryan Riazi on a kick return. Joe Llanos had a big game again, so did Jonathan Murphy and Lucas Barbosa. It was a huge night. When you can move the ball around and get a lot of guys involved what’s better in high school football?”
Llanos paced the offense with with 23 carries for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Riazi booted a 44-yard field goal in the second half and scooped an onside kick for a 50-yard touchdown late in the game.
After a handful of dropped passes and a fumble in the first quarter, the Rams found themselves trailing by 20 early.
“The slow start hurt,” Classical coach Brian Vaughan said. “It killed us. You can’t start a football game down 20. It’s the second week in a row that has happened to us. We have to figure stuff out. It’s tough to come back from that.
“We have to fix some things,” Vaughan said. “We just have to get better at all aspects of the game. We have to get better on offense, defense and special teams. We have to do a better job at executing on the field and coaching.”
Revere scored on its first two possessions. Murphy and Zachary Furlong each scored on 10-yard runs and Riazi went 1-for-2 on extra points to give the Patriots a 13-0 lead.
Classical’s fumble gave the Patriots a short field next and quarterback Calvin Boudreau (8-of-15, 104 yards, two touchdowns) found Barbosa for a 22-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 20-0.
Classical finally found some rhythm late in the second. Rams quarterback Daniel Gisonno (22-of-42, 269 yards, three touchdowns) capped a drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jeffrey Hill to cut the Revere lead to 20-7.
Gisonno found Kyle Durant on a 45-yard pass to start the second half and Kalvin So (15 carries, 164 yards, two touchdowns) finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to cut Revere’s lead to 20-14.
But Revere didn’t take long to recover. Llanos broke off a 54-yard touchdown run and Riazi hit his 44-yard field goal drive to put Revere ahead 29-14.
A 21-yard touchdown catch by Andy De Leon got Classical back on the board but a missed extra point kept the Revere lead at 29-20.
From there, both teams went back and forth. Llanos ran for a 35-yard score and So answered with a 27-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive to cut Revere’s lead to 36-26.
The Rams tried an onside kick next, but Riazi ran it back 50-yards and added the extra point to ice the game at 43-26.
“There was no quit in Classical,” Cicatelli said. “That game goes another quarter and who knows? We were fortunate to get out of here with a win.”
Revere (3-0) will hope to continue its solid start at Saugus next Saturday (11). The Rams (1-2) host Salem next Friday (5).
