Revere’s Oscar Lopez makes a one-handed catch in the end zone despite Ethan Friedman’s efforts to bat it away. Photo: Bob Roche
By Scot Cooper
SWAMPSCOTT — If you’re looking for a manifestation of the word “improbable,” Saturday’s 29-27 Revere win over Swampscott might qualify.
The topsy-turvy affair at Blocksidge Field most certainly sent Patriots coach Lou Cicatelli and his team back to Revere with a sigh of relief after some extreme anxious moment.
On the other hand, Big Blue coach Bobby Serino probably wanted to go outside the clubhouse and just scream.
Revere went into the locker room at halftime with a 14-point lead. However, Swampscott wasn’t about to let that deficit deter it, and roared back with 21 straight points in the second half to go up, 21-14, with 3:54 to play.
Then it was Revere’s turn to get off the mat, and the Patriots scored with 44 seconds left in regulation to force overtime — the second time this season the Big Blue have played extra time.
Revere had first crack in overtime, and Oscar Lopez, who had already scored all three of the Patriots’ touchdowns, ran the first five yards before Anthony DeStefano bulled his way to the house for the final five, and the score. Zac Furlong rushed for the conversion and Revere had a 29-21 lead.
Isaiah Bascon took it the ball in on Swampscott’s first play. However, quarterback Colin Frary — who had thrown for two TDs (to Sean Lahrizi and Collin Walsh) and run one in — had his pass knocked down in the end zone, and Swampscott’s bid for its fourth win of the season fell short.
With the loss, the Big Blue fell to 3-3 (1-3 in the Northeastern Conference/South) while Revere moves to 2-4, but 2-2 in the league.
“Just another fantastic Saturday of football here in Swampscott,” said Cicatelli. “What is better than this? I mean we had it, we lost it, tip your cap to Swampscott, they made adjustments, but we caught them at the end and the boys were able to take it, a great win on another great day of North Shore football.”
Not only did Lopez score two TDs to take the lead, but the Patriots had the ball for 15 out of the 22 minutes in the first half, using both Furlong and Lopez over and over.
Lopez took on in from the 10, with a Badr Haou kick moving the score to 7-0 with 5:04 left in the first quarter. Lopez and Haou made it 14-0 with 1:49 left before the half, this run another from 10 yards out.
However, Serino’s halftime talk paid off.
“I told the guys at the half, I don’t care if we lose 55-0, I want to see smiles out there, this is supposed to be fun,” Serino said. “The guys relaxed a bit, they were looser in the second, we got some points but we couldn’t get it done.”
Swampscott cut it to a one-score game when Frary hit Walsh from six yards out. Walsh had his second huge grab in less than a minute when he fell on an onside kick by Lahrizi and the Blue were 50 yards away from tying it up.
Frary moved the chains, getting big catches from A. J. Venuti, Liam Faulkner, Ethan Freidman, Lahrizi and Bascon during the resulting 12-play drive. Frary ran the final five to tie things up.
After the Blue stopped Revere on downs — the Patriots’ first real possession of the second half — Frary hit Lahrizi from the 10 in the end zone and the Big Blue got the lead with 4:47 left..
Revere responded with a four-minute drive that culminated in Lopez’s 10-yard run. Haou, who was kicking only because a penalty on the Patriots caused Cicatelli to change his plans of going for two, drilled the PAT and it was 21-21.
“Yes, I wanted to go for the win, why not,” Cicatelli said. “We make that and I’m a great coach, we miss it and I walk around Revere like Frankenstein’s monster for a couple of weeks.”