“Play like you want it.” These were the words Coach DiBiaso left his team with in the pregame huddle. Coming off a disappointing 20-8 loss to Xaverian and an extra week of practice from the bye the Crimson Tide knew they had a lot to prove against No. 3 St. John’s Prep. It wasn’t going to be an easy task facing the undisputed best running back in the state, Johnny Thomas, but the Crimson Tide rose to the challenge, defeating the Prep 35-14 on Saturday afternoon.
“I can’t say enough about how proud I am of the way this team played,” said Coach DiBiaso after the game.
Everett’s defense was the first to take the field. There had been talk all week of how the Tide’s defense would match up with Thomas. Angel Duarte and Josh Palmer stepped up to the task, stonewalling Thomas and forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over on downs on their first drive.
When the Tide offense took the field, they had a new player in the mix. Transfer running back/linebacker Isaiah Davis had just been told he would be able to play this week. Although he had been practicing with the team since June workouts, the senior from Lynn English received his waiver on Tuesday and made his Everett debut on Saturday. In their first offensive drive, Davis broke out with a 15-yd touchdown run to put the Tide on the board first. Everett then forced a fumble after the kickoff to set up another Davis touchdown run, giving Everett an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Davis was thrilled to be able to help his team in his first game for Everett. He told reporters after the game that this was a fresh start for him as a player. “Brand new team, brand new me,” he said.
Everett continued to show off their skilled three-back offense in the second quarter. With 7:47 left in the first half Joe D’Onofrio took a 4th and 4 and turned it in to a touchdown, putting the Crimson Tide up 21-0.
It seemed like Everett would head into halftime with a comfortable three-touchdown lead. But a fluky fake spike tricked the defense, and set up 6-yd touchdown pass from Prep QB Mike Gealsen to WR Owen Rockett, putting the Eagles on the board on the last play of the half.
Things got a bit scary in the third quarter for the Prep. With the score still at 21-7 with 40 seconds left in the 3rd, Johnny Thomas went down on the field. The University of Maryland commit did not return to the game with a knee injury. After the game, an MRI revealed that Thomas would need surgery to repair a torn ACL, sidelining the super star back for the rest of the season. He had over 660 rushing yards with 7 touchdowns in just three games and was on pace to have a record breaking season.
Backup running back stepped right into Thomas’ role, scoring on a 4-yd touchdown run, putting the Eagles within one touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Everett answered right back. Raheem Wingard faked the option to set up a beautiful 25-yd fade to give the Crimson Tide a 28-14 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Everett defense made sure to protect the Tide lead, ending the Eagles next two drives with a fumble recovery and a turnover on downs. D’Onofrio then scored his second touchdown of the day that would give the Crimson Tide a 35-14 victory over St. John’s Prep.
Everett takes on Cambridge this Saturday in their homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 2:30 PM at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.
EHS Roundup EHS boys soccer team takes two of three games
The Everett High boys soccer team took two of its three contests this past week to get above the .500 mark and improve to 4-3-1 on the season.
The Crimson Tide opened their week with a 2-0 victory over non-league rival Malden Catholic last Monday. Everett took a 2-0 lead in the opening half. Junior captain Edgar Escobar, who received a beautiful crossing pass from Kevin Mendoza in the box, scored the first Everett goal. Junior Gerardo Girou made it 2-0 when he delivered a powerful shot to the top left corner from the top of the box to cleanly beat the Malden Catholic keeper.
“We played very well against Malden Catholic,” said EHS head coach Oswaldo Constanza. “We controlled play from the outset, but in the second half Malden Catholic became a bit more physical and slowed us down”
Three days later on Thursday, the Crimson Tide took the measure of another non-league opponent, Whittier Tech, 2-1. Escobar tallied both goals for Everett, the first unassisted, the second on a nice through ball from Marlon Magalhaes.
“Although we won by only a goal, we had the advantage against Whittier throughout the game,” noted Constanza. “We made a lot of smart passes and made good decisions. We had the opportunity to play a lot of our sophomores and and they saw some important playing time.”
The coach praised the play in the two victories of senior Henry Maldonado, who was just back from an injury, senior defensemen Carlos Duran and captain Luis Licks, sophomore mid-fielder Alex Casey Lockhart, junior Carlos Acevedo, keeper Diego Ojopi, and senior defenseman Kevin Ochoa, who played a key role in shutting down the offenses of the Tide’s opponents.
Everett’s lone setback came Saturday in heartbreaking fashion at Lowell. The Everett boys led 1-0 for most of the game thanks to a goal by Mendoza in the first half when he put pressure on the Lowell keeper and took advantage of a mistake.
However, Lowell scored both of its goals late in the game to pull out the victory.
Constanza and his crew were set to face Somerville this past Monday and travel to Malden today (Wednesday). They travel to Medford Friday and then to Cambridge Monday for a string of four consecutive contests against their GBL foes.
EHS girls soccer wins two of three
The Everett High girls soccer team enjoyed its best week of the season, winning two of its three matches. The Lady Crimson Tide defeated non-league opponent East Boston last Monday. Senior forward Jen Ralon, assisted by freshman forward Stephanie Perkins, and senior captain Caitlin Winsor, who delivered a bomb from well outside the 18 that beat the Eastie keeper, scored the Everett goals. “We played a great game,” noted EHS head coach DeeAnn Larrabee. “We were very physical, which was nice to see for a change.”
In a 2-0 win over Randolph Friday evening at the Stadium, another non-league foe, Ralon (assisted again by Perkins) and senior captain Luana Demenezes, assisted by Winsor, scored both Everett goals in the opening half.
In addition to the goal-scorers, Larrabee also lauded the play of her sweeper, senior captain Sheryl Steeves, for her staunch defense in the twin wins.
“Once again we were physical in the game against Randolph,” said Larrabee. “We did a lot of the little things that really made a difference.”
However, the Randolph contest, which was a makeup of a previously-postponed game, took its toll on the Lady Crimson Tide, who had to take on a strong Somerville squad the following morning.
“The girls were noticeably tired, especially in the heat that we had Saturday,” said Larrabee. Ralon notched her third goal in three games and Perkins also scored for the Lady Crimson in the 6-2 loss.
Larrabee and company will host GBL foes Malden tonight (Wednesday), Medford Friday, and Cambridge Tuesday, with all games kicking off at 7:00 at the Stadium. They will face Pope John next Thursday, also at 7:00 at the Stadium.
EHS volleyball team improving and playing well
The Everett High volleyball team is still searching for its first win of the season, but they played some of their best volleyball this past week, taking a set against each of the top two teams in the conference.
In their match with first place Cambridge, the Lady Crimson Tide took game one, 26-24, behind strong serving from senior middle hitter Melissa DesRosiers and an offensive attack led by Jhulia Silva (four kills) and Joana Sartor (11 assists).
After dropping the second set, 25-15, Everett rallied to tie the third set at 19-19. Junior Nicole Sylvester and senior Laryssa Costa propelled the team with a number of stellar defensive plays. “Those girls really kept us in there,” said EHS head coach Michel Fineran. “They held their ground as Cambridge tried to pound away, but they kept getting the ball up and giving our offense a chance to respond.
“We didn’t get the win, which hurts,” added the coach, “but it was a fun match to be a part of.”
The Everett squad took on another GBL foe on Friday, facing Somerville in the second of four consecutive home matches. But the squad’s run of bad luck continued even before the game began. DesRosiers was unavailable and Laryssa Costa suffered a possible concussion in warm ups “That was a big blow to us,” said Fineran. “Laryssa has been playing with unparalleled intensity in the past two weeks. She is our best pure passer, and not having her definitely hurt.”
However, the Everett girls came out of the box and played their most dominant set yet of the season in the opening game, erasing an early 5-0 hole to win game one, 25-16. Senior hitter Amanda Nabasaliza had four aces in six service points to give the Tide the lead, and captain Sabine Jacques picked up the defense, getting two blocks in the set’s final play.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to capitalize on the momentum,” said Fineran. After pulling even after another early deficit, the Tide could not adjust as Somerville’s servers increased the pressure en route to taking the second game, 25-17. Game three started ominously for Everett, as both Sabine Jacques and Joana Sartor needed extra time to recover from the first two sets. Freshman Nathanny Balbino saw her first action on the varsity squad and had four assists before being replaced by a refreshed Jacques, who had four kills and two aces in her return.
In the fourth game, In the fourth game, Sartor returned and once again had Everett’s offense clicking. Sylvester had four kills, Silva and Jacques smacked three each, and Sartor added a couple.
“I thought we were going to a fifth set, I really did,” said Fineran. “We had leads in the set at 18-14 and 21-17. We were playing well, we looked confident, we were the team I’ve seen in practice. But we had too many missing pieces, made too many mistakes, and once again ended up on the wrong end of things. But we are a scrappy team, and we’re working hard, and we’ll get there. We’ll get over that hump — and soon,” said Fineran.
The Lady Crimson Tide host GBL rival Medford today (Wednesday).
EHS cross country team races vs. Saugus
The Everett High cross country team competed against Saugus Monday on the latter’s home course at the Breakheart Reservation, which is 3.08 miles on a very hilly course.
Junior Mike Trail was the first EHS runner across the line in eighth place in a time of 22:32. Senior Alex Burgos was the next Crimson Tide finisher in ninth spot in 22:32. He was followed by teammates Gabriel Cazeau in 23:32, Kerry Dor in 23:33, Jason Vo in 23:33, Taun Vo in 23:36, Alex Andre in 25:58, and Denny Lee in 26:50.
“The team continues to show a great deal of improvement each week,” said first year EHS head coach Brendan Hahesy. “I was proud of the effort the team put in against Saugus.”
The Crimson Tide runners were set to face Somerville today (Wednesday) and then will race in the Homecoming Hustle 5K this weekend as part of Everett’s Homecoming weekend.
Pop warner Roundup
The Everett Crimson Tide C team flew over the Cambridge Falcons by the score of 25-12 this past Sunday in Cambridge. Jovary Thermidor opened the scoring on Everett’s very first offensive play with a blast from 36 yards out. After allowing Cambridge back into the game by allowing consecutive scores to fall behind 12-6, Caleb Suttles threw a 45 yard bomb to Adrian Mercado who made a catch worthy of a SportsCenter highlight clip for a 13-12 advantage for Everett at the half. In the third quarter Shea Wilcox connected with David Cifuentes on a 39 yard toss and in the final frame Suttles combined with Tyreek Jones on a one yard flip for the final tally. Offensive Coach Tim Cotto’s passing offense was put on display and despite a defensive hiccup in the second quarter when Cambridge scored all 12 of their points Coach Cafarella’s defense stiffened when it had to. Assistant coaches Cataldo Kidd, Frank Cafarella Jr., Jason LaMonica, Chris Spinney, Tony Eason, Mike Bessler and Jimmy Winer all have played a huge part in helping the squad hop out to a 3-1 record for Head Coach Chuck Leo. The rapport between coaches and players has made this year an interesting one to say the least. ROLL TIDE !!!!