REVERE — The Revere Patriots are still rocking and rolling.
Friday night in the Division 4 North tournament opener, No. 2 Revere’s running game moved the chains from start to finish en route to a 42-6 win over No. 7 Dracut at Harry Della Russo Stadium.
Joe Llanos led the rushing attack with 135 yards and two touchdowns. Adetayo Atitebi,
Zack Furlong and Jonathan Murphy also ran for scores.
“We spread the ball around,” Patriots (8-0) coach Lou Cicatelli said. “Coach (Paul) Norton did a great job with the play calling. We were able to put a lot of points on the board.
“But I think the defense set the tone too. We got a lot of turnovers, we got a lot of stops. To hold Dracut to six points is huge.”
Revere advances to next week’s (TBA) semifinal, when the Patriots will host the winner of Saturday’s first-round tilt between No. 3 Wayland/No. 6 Wakefield.
“We’ll go up there Saturday and get a live look at them,” Cicatelli said. “We’ll get back to work. We’re going to enjoy this for now but we go back to work Saturday, we’ll watch film Sunday. This is just the beginning and hopefully we can keep it going.”
The Patriots wasted no time grabbing the lead. Billy Ginepra, for the second consecutive game, picked up the opening kick, turned on the jets and returned it for a 75-yard touchdown (PAT missed).
“Billy did that last week against Salem,” Cicatelli said. “When you can make big plays, especially at home with the home crowd, it’s definitely helpful. The kids know that.”
After Dracut’s opening drive stalled near midfield, the Patriots turned to their passing game to drive into Middies’ territory. Murphy sealed the drive on a 12-yard touchdown run (Rayan Riazi PAT).
Llanos bumped the lead to 21-0 on a 19-yard carry midway through the second quarter (Murphy reception from Calvin Boudreau on 2-point conversion). Dracut closed the gap to 21-6 before the half on JC Santiago’s 44-yard scramble.
The Patriots put it out of reach with two touchdowns in the third quarter. Dracut fumbled at its own 29 on the second half’s opening drive. Llanos made the Middies pay on a 19-yard touchdown sprint (Riazi PAT). Atitebi’s 8-yard run bumped the lead to 35-6 (Riazi PAT).
Furlong’s 16-yard plunge in the fourth quarter sealed the 42-6 win (Riazi PAT).
