RallyNorth.net

Another title for the city,and the school

Saturday, December, 01 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

FOXBORO | “The Amesbury coaches asked ‘where the heck did he come from,’ ” said Greater Lawrence Tech defensive coordinator Dib Sarkis.

They’re doing the same in East Boston this morning after their Jets were steamrolled by one of the more dominating performances in Super Bowl history.

Juan Olivo, a 6-2, 260-pound Reggies defensive tackle, owned the line of scrimmage with 16 tackles and a sack, leading the Tech to a sparkling 19-6 victory over Eastie in the Division 3A Super Bowl here at Gillette Stadium.

“He missed nine games, I told him before he owes us for those nine games,” said Dib Sarkis. “He made up for all those games today. He’s a tough boy to block.”

Olivo impacted immensely, from the opening snap, anchoring a Reggies’ defense that allowed Eastie a mere 136 yards of offense | only 86 coming after the opening drive.

“To hold that team to with all those weapons to 136 yards is just incredible,” said head coach Tony Sarkis. “Every guy on our defense did his job on every play in the second half. I can’t say enough, it was amazing.”

Just the fact that Olivo roamed the Gillette turf yesterday is a testament to both Sarkis brothers and the athlete himself.

Mired in academic problems, he opened the school year on the ineligible list.

But the Sarkis’ boys wouldn’t quit on Olivo. They couldn’t. “He’s too good an athlete and too good a kid,” said Tony. “Yeah, he’s one of those kids who’ve had academic problems, and he fights the language barrier. But he’s a good kid.”

Olivo salivated at the prospect of a return, hungering to be a part of the juggernaut that was being built, win by win in West Andover.

“He was absolutely motivated to come back,” said Sarkis. “He showed up at every practice. He ran and stayed in shape, while taking care of the class problems. “Believe me, not being a part of it ate at him every day. We had no doubts or second thoughts about bringing him back.”

Olivo, for his part, has been humble and more importantly contrite.

“The motivation came from my coach, my mom and the team,” said Olivo, a potential state champion heavyweight wrestler this winter. “I owed it to them to work and come back. I let them down. I knew I had to do my work, and I didn’t do it.”

His effort this fall did not go unnoticed. Captain Victor Sosa saw the work and a re-dedicated Olivo. Still, he thought long and hard about welcoming “Bamboo” back.

“It wasn’t easy. There’s been people out here busting their butts all season long,” said Sosa. “Letting him come back was just something we had to do, something we had to do and we just did it.”

Yesterday, the monster was unleashed on Eastie, but he needed help in holding the Jets to a minuscule 14 yards in the second half. The Reggies spent much of that time, nursing a tender 7-6 lead, so the room for error was tiny, and the heroic candidates were numerous.

Topping that long list was defensive tackle Jason Orsini, who snuffed out the key Eastie possession, nailing Jet Tyrone Figueroa on a fourth-quarter 4th down.

Then, there was linebacker Jorge Cruz, who iced it with an interception to set up the final score.

He and defensive end Yerison Cruz, the silent assassin, finished with 6 tackles apiece.

Jonathan Delossantos, Isaac and Victor Sosa, Miguel Plaza, John Cote, Angel Rivera, even Nate Adames, the Reggies were active and everywhere.

“We executed and we dominated,” proclaimed Victor Sosa. And now, thanks in part to the return of Juan Olivo to the fray, they are champions.

Additional stories:

• Greater Lawrence wins Super Bowl
• Adames wins the battle of the running backs