MELROSE — It was a tough Friday night for the Revere football team at Fred Green Memorial Field.
Looking to clinch the Division 4 North sectional crown and a bye straight to the Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots couldn’t contain Chris Cusolito and top-seeded Melrose’s offense as the senior scored four touchdowns to pace a 41-7 Red Raider win.
“They’re a good football team,” Revere coach Lou Cicatelli said of 10-0 Melrose. “They beat us up in just about every facet of the game. We had no answers for No. 3 (Cusolito) and No. 12 (Melrose quarterback Brendan Fennell). My defensive backs got beat on some long touchdowns. We couldn’t really stop them or get anything going on offense.”
Calvin Boudreau connected with junior classmate Billy Byrne-Ginepra for Revere’s lone touchdown in the third quarter. Rayan Riazi successfully kicked the ensuing extra point.
After stopping Revere’s opening 6-play drive, the hosts got on the board first on Fennell’s 6-yard keeper with 5:55 left in the first quarter. Revere handed the ball to Joe Llanos eight times on its 13-play second series, but Charles Haggerty intercepted Boudreau’s pass from the 7-yard line to turn the momentum right back to the home team.
Cusolito’s 8-yard run and Zach Federico’s PAT doubled the Red Raider lead about halfway through the second quarter.
“I’m proud of our guys because there was no quit in them after that,” Cicatelli said. “We tried our best but we were just outmatched. It was pretty clear and simple.”
The Patriots gained a first down on the following possession as Lucas Barbosa broke out for a 14-yard run, but that was all they could muster before punting and allowing Melrose to extend its lead to 21-0 in the final minute of the first half. On 4th-and-6, Cusolito caught a 13-yard touchdown pass after Fennell rolled to his left and the ball was tipped in mid-air.
Cusolito busted free for a 70-yard scoring run on just the third play from scrimmage in the second half before Revere finally answered at the end of a 15-play drive. Boudreau connected with Llanos and Jonathan Murphy twice en route to Byrne-Ginepra’s touchdown reception.
“I thought they did a good job containing (Llanos),” Cicatelli said. “We moved him around in the second half in the slot and he had a real nice catch over the middle for a big first down before we scored.”
In the fourth quarter, Cusolito found the end zone from nine yards away on his fourth carry of the series before Will Pesce finished the scoring with a 1-yard run.
With their playoff run complete, the Patriots turn their attention to the annual Thanksgiving showdown with Winthrop.
“We had a great season and we still have work to do,” Cicatelli said. “The last time I checked, 10-1 is still a pretty good record down the stretch. These guys gave everything they had, and to get here says an awful lot about their character and the coaching staff. We’ll come back.”
