WINTHROP — Joe Llanos has been through a lot over the past two years with the Revere football team.
After suffering a broken leg in the third game of last season and missing the rest of the year, the senior running back worked his way back to full health to be at his best for 2019.
He did that and more.
Llanos capped off his senior season in storybook fashion on Thursday, rushing for 389 yards and six touchdowns in a statement win on the road at rival Winthrop. But, in typical running back fashion, Llanos deflected the praise to his teammates.
“I can’t even describe what it was like out there, my guys were just getting me open lanes and I was running through them,” Llanos said. “This team has meant everything to me and there’s no other group of guys I’d want playing with me. I love these guys from the bottom of my heart.”
The astonishing game stats only add to his incredible season stats. With the season completed, Llanos rushed for 1,985 yards and a staggering 30 touchdowns. If you add in his receiving stats, Llanos sits at over 2,200 all-purpose yards.
“Joe is our guy and he has been all year,” said Revere coach Lou Cicatelli. “He brought us to this point and we just wanted to keep feeding him. He never let us down.”
But the numbers only tell so much of the story. What they don’t tell is that Llanos spent countless hours rehabbing his broken leg in the offseason, working his way back up to speed and dealing with other injuries — including a broken bone in his foot.
“It was a grind to come back, but I never wanted to quit,” said Llanos. “I knew I wanted to be here, back out on the field with my brothers. I said I’d do whatever it took to get back out on the field.”
“Joe is just a true success story,” said Cicatelli. “He worked so hard during the offseason to get back, and at first we weren’t even sure he would come back. But he just kept working his way back. He showed his toughness all year, and he’s really the heart and soul of this team.”
He worked through all that to come back this year and help Revere to one of its best seasons in program’s history. Thursday’s victory gave the Patriots their first-ever 10-win season as they clinched the NEC South title. Revere also flexed its muscle in the Division 4 North state tournament, where the Patriots came one win shy of playing for a state championship at Gillette Stadium.
After capping off his senior season and his high school career with an unforgettable performance, Llanos had some trouble finding the words to describe all his feelings.
“I mean, what can I even say?” Llanos said. “Finishing the year at 10-1, beating Winthrop, having such a great game, this is all I ever wanted. What more could you ask for to finish out your senior year? “
