Cameron was front and center when needed most

SWAMPSCOTT ? Statistically, this was far from Chris Cameron’s best game. But Thursday’s 20-13 win over Marblehead at Blocksidge Field puts Cameron in a small group of quarterbacks, most recently Peter Kinchley and Kyle Beatrice, who have led the Swampscott High football team to the post-season.”Chris is the glue that keeps it all together,” Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said. “He’s hands down the most valuable player in the Northeastern Conference’s Small Division. He’s unique because not only has he thrown for more than 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns this season, he’s also our leading rusher.”Cameron completed 11-for-15 passes for 156 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions on Thursday, giving him a total of 2,298 yards with 22 TDs and just six picks this season. Cameron also ran 19 times for 55 yards and a score on Thursday, increasing his season totals to 635 yards and 15 TDs.”He’s a tough kid,” Marblehead coach Doug Chernovetz. “He can beat you with his arm, and he can beat you with his legs. And he’s a smart player who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”Unlike some of his predecessors at quarterback, Cameron also plays defense, and intercepted a pass on Thursday in Swampscott’s end zone with 10 seconds left to seal the Big Blue’s win. It was perhaps as big as any play Cameron made on offense all day.”He’s a great athlete, and a valuable part of our defense,” Dembowski said. “We don’t like to play our quarterbacks on defense because of the safety risk, and we’ll take Chris out of the secondary if we have a big lead, but he’s one of those players who’s got the rare ability to make plays on both sides of the ball.”As a one-year starter, Cameron’s numbers won’t end up rating with those of Beatrice, who played from 1999-2002 and holds every significant Swampscott passing record, but his legacy as a champion will remain.”If you grew up in this town, you know who Bill Adams and Stan Bondelevitch and the Toners and Dick Jauron are,” Dembowski said. “This program has had four head coaches since 1953. The community takes a sense of pride in the accomplishments of this team.”After the game, Cameron wasn’t too concerned about his legacy, he was just excited to play at least one more football game, which will take place on Tuesday against Arlington Catholic.”For the seniors, this could have been our last game,” Cameron said. “We knew Marblehead would be a tough team and we didn’t expect anything less than a close game. But it just makes winning that much sweeter.”uNo matter who is doing the math, Swampscott now leads both the overall and Thanksgiving series against Marblehead.”That was one of the goals when I took over the program,” said Dembowski, who has the head-to-head record at 48-47-7 in favor of the Big Blue.”They’ve been leading for the past 60 years because they dominated the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s, and then we made up some ground during (the Bondelevitch era),” he added.Swampscott is 12-3 in the last 15 games against Marblehead, which has beaten a Dembowski team only twice since he took over.uWith Marblehead focused on its running game more due to the absences of its two top quarterbacks, tri-captain Sam Perlow switched from tight end to fullback and ran the ball five times for 17 yards, including a touchdown, in the first half. He also caught a 28-yard scoring pass from Nick Haller.”We knew we were going to have to run the ball a little more today,” said Marblehead coach Doug Chernovetz. “Sam is a big tough, kid who can pick up a first down in short yardage situations.”Chernovetz also tried to get his leading receiver, Taariq Allen, more involved in the second half after he didn’t touch the ball in the first. Allen ran three reverses for 35 yards, and only caught one pass for minus-one yard.uThe crowd estimate of 9,000 came from the Swampscott athletic department. Portions of the visitors stands beyond about the 30-yard lines were roped off, but efforts to keep fans out of those sections in the second half were apparen