Two towns and a football rivalry for the ages

Moments, memories and family legacy have punctuated the Swampscott-Marblehead football rivalry through the ages.As the teams prepare to mark the 100th anniversary of the game Thursday (10 a.m. at Swampscott?s Blocksidge Field), many of the participants with unique perspectives reminisced about their roles.Swampscott?s Greg Beatrice and Marblehead?s Parker Caswell are part of families whose lives have been tied up in the rivalry.Beatrice, along with his three brothers, played for the Big Blue during the ?60s and ?70s, while sons and nephews also suited up for the squad. Caswell played for Marblehead in the late ?40s, while his father, brother, and pair of sons also wore the red and black.?It was exciting (as a family) to be part of all that,” said Beatrice. “We beat Marblehead in my brother Peter?s senior year, with (Mike) Lynch kicking the field goal late in the game. Then in my senior year, our team won the first (Eastern Mass.) Super Bowl over Catholic Memorial.”Beatrice played defensive tackle and backed up Lynch at quarterback (?Only Bondy would have a 6-1, 265-lb. quarterback,” he joked). Today, he?s a Big Blue offensive assistant. And he?s seen the friendships made between many from both sides over the years.?One of my best friends is Chip Percy (a former player for Marblehead in the ?70s), and it?s great to see so many of the players I played with and against at the Old Timers? banquet. You might have been rivals on the playing field, but you develop friendships with those on the other teams.”Caswell remembers hearing his father talk about the 1918 game.?His team won, 59-0, and it?s the highest score (in the series). I heard about it all the time growing up, and my sons (Peter and Andy, who also played) heard about it as well.”Caswell and the Magicians won his last three times against Swampscott, with his last two (1948-1949) coming under coach Herm Hussey.?It was wonderful to go out as a winner as a senior,” he said. “Even though Herm was the coach, he didn?t call the plays. The member of the team with the most experience did that (on both sides of the ball).”Caswell?s favorite Thanksgiving Day memory comes as a dad.?In 1977, seeing Peter (a senior) and Andy (a sophomore) on the sidelines together, and both starting in the game is my most thrilling moment.”UMass hockey coach Don “Toot” Cahoon has a unique perspective on the game. His grandfather, father and older brother were all Big Blue captains, but “when I was in eighth grade, we moved to Marblehead, as I felt I could play ninth grade hockey there, but not in Swampscott.?Hockey was my lifeline, and there wasn?t much out there for a guy that was 5-7, 150 in football,” he said. “It was really the best-case scenario for me.”Still, he was the quarterback as a senior on the 1966 squad that came back to edge the Big Blue at Blocksidge.?We were spread out in the option, spreading out their defense,” Cahoon said. “(Fullback) Bobby Blood was able to cut back against the grain as a result. All I had to do was hand off and watch. He scored all three touchdowns for us, including the game-winner late in the contest.?I had played with several of those (Swampscott) players in Pop Warner, and there were a lot of animosities created (when I moved). They called me turncoat, and they weren?t letting me forget it.”Cahoon said Reebenacker “was a great teacher and inspired me to go into coaching. He made me realize that you have to be passionate about it (coaching), and that it?s a vocation. It?s something I?m certainly passionate about.”Current coach Steve Dembowski has the unique distinction of having played for, and then coached, the same team in this game. He was a sophomore in Stan Bondelevitch?s final year (1986) and a captain of the 1988 team that went 9-1, losing only to Beverly.?This is a game that you look forward to from training camp on,” said Dembowski. “I was fortunate to have played in this game for four years, then to be on the sidelines as part of it for another 15.”The