Swampscott, Fenwick both impress; Big Blue take victory

PEABODY – Both the Swampscott and Fenwick football teams wanted to put together a good showing in their final week of intraconference and intradivisional play, as both schools enter their respective league schedules next weekend.Both schools got what they wanted, as the Big Blue outlasted a banged-up Crusader team, 22-8, last night at Donaldson Field.You could tell just how much Fenwick was hurting just by watching the captains from both schools go out to midfield for the opening toss. The Crusaders have four captains, yet only one was healthy enough to suit up for the game.Though the Big Blue (5-1) won the toss, they elected to receive the ball for the second half, and the Crusaders opened at their 34 after the kick. They split the running game on the first possession between halfback Bobby Tarr (37-204) and fullback Dan Kennedy (14-43) and the pairing worked as the squad was able to move the ball consistently downfield. Fenwick (3-3) was able to convert a pair of third downs on the drive, both by Kennedy, with the latter ensuring a first down at Swampscott’s 13. Yet the Crusaders were only able to advance a yard to the Big Blue 12 over the next three plays, and quarterback John Baker was hit for an eight-yard loss on fourth down to end the possession.Swampscott took over, and quarterback Peter Kinchley hit teammate Justin Mitchell (3-56) for 16 yards to the Big Blue 34. Moments later, with a third-and-2 at the Fenwick 45, back Ilya Levin found a few holes in the Crusader defense, and raced into the end zone with the game’s first points on the last play of the period.Fenwick again put together a solid drive to begin the second quarter. Aided by a facemask call against the Big Blue, the Crusaders marched to their 47 after a six-yard carry by Tarr. The team amassed four first downs on the drive, with the last one coming by Tarr on a nine-yard burst to Swampscott’s 14. Yet Tarr was hit for a three-yard loss on second down, and Fenwick was penalized for five more, moving the team back to the 20. Needing 16 yards for another first down, Tarr got 10 on third down, but was hit from behind on the following play, falling four yards short of another first down.”This game was everything as advertised,” said Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski. “They pretty much kept our offense off the field in the first half, as they kept getting first downs and running the ball (Fenwick ran 38 plays in the first half to just 14 for the Big Blue). We needed to make the stops.”That one stop led to another Swampscott score just before the end of the half. Running back Kyle Shonio gave the team a first down with a five-yard gain to the 20. After a Kinchley incompletion, Shonio (8-92) took a pitch from the quarterback, and galloped along the near side of the field the rest of the way to increase the lead to 14-0.The Crusaders were able to hold Swampscott on its initial possession of the second half, forcing the Big Blue to punt. Fenwick took over at its 31, and Tarr was instrumental on converting a third-and-7 and a fourth-and-1 into first downs. Tarr cemented the drive on another third-and-7 from the Swampscott 42, cutting to his left after hitting a wall, and rambling down the sidelines to bring the Crusaders to within 14-6. Baker then hit Dale Crispen with the two-point conversion pass to make the score 14-8.”This was perhaps our best game of the year,” said Fenwick coach Dave Woods, whose club was missing six two-way starters due to injuries. “We really played a football game, and both teams played great. I was really proud of (quarterback John) Baker, as Swampscott showed a lot of things (defensively), and he was picking them up very well.”Fenwick had a chance to possibly move into the lead midway through the final quarter. Baker picked up a key first down, with an eight-yard burst on fourth-and-4 to the Crusaders 48. Two plays later, Tarr literally muscled his way through the Swampscott line for 13 yards and another first to the Big Blue 39. Moments lat