Item Football 2009: Swampscott strives to continue its run of success

SWAMPSCOTT ? It’s been a terrific two-year ride for the Swampscott High football team. The Big Blue followed up their Division 3 title in 2007 with a second consecutive Northeastern Conference South championship, though their season ended with a first round playoff loss to Arlington Catholic.In order to win its third straight division title, Swampscott will have to rely on some untested players. The Big Blue lost some key players, including NEC/Small MVP Chris Cameron, to graduation, but returns enough talent to make them among the favorites again this season.”The cupboard isn’t bare,” said Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski, who begins his 11th season with a stellar career record of 77-38. “We have players, but overall they lack the game experience some of our teams have had in the past.”As always, Swampscott’s fortunes will rest with the success of its high-powered spread offense. Taking over for Cameron at quarterback this season will be Matt Barbuzzi, a senior quad-captain who got some playing time last season.”Matt is our guy,” Dembowski said. “He has the leadership, the experience with the system and an understanding of our offense.”Barbuzzi is at least larger physically than his immediate predecessor, and draws comparisons from his coach to Peter Kinchley, who helmed the 2007 championship squad.”(Barbuzzi) every bit of 6-3, 212 pounds, and he gives us that dimension of size,” said Dembowski. “He completed more than 65 percent of his passes last season. He’s one of the few backups who’s been over 50 percent, never mind in the 60s.”The bulk of Swampscott’s running game will be handled by another senior quad-captain, Kyle Shonio. Starting his third year with the varsity, Shonio comes into the season already with 1,000 career rushing yards. The pass is usually Swampscott’s first offensive option, but a running back can pick up huge chunks of yards if the opposing defense plays solely for an aerial attack.Junior Jake McDougall and senior Harry Prunier, who was hurt much of last season, will also see some time at running back, as Swampscott usually features a rotation at the position.Gone is most of last year’s armada of pass receivers, notably Jon Poth, Steve Moran and Trevor Wheeler. The most experienced returnee is senior quad-captain Randall Kelleher, who started 7-8 games last season. Junior Patrick Costin also started a couple of games last year, and the rest of the spots – Swampscott usually runs four-receiver sets – will be filled by a cast of eager yet inexperienced players.”We’ll probably be rotating a lot of guys in and out of that position during the first month of the season,” said Dembowski.Swampscott’s pass attack also relies on the agility of its linemen. Senior quad-captain Chris Fagone and senior Buddy Nestor are two returning starters at offensive guard. Joe Nigro appears to be the leading candidate so far at center, while Max Gold, Carl Zeller and Bill Bergeron are among the linemen who have impressed during the pre-season.Defensively, Swampscott only returns three starters, but two of them are Kelleher and junior Peter Yasi, who play linebacker, the most vital and active position on the field in the Big Blue’s set. Shonio will move from defensive back to outside linebacker to take advantage of his combination of speed and 6-0, 187 size.Several experienced players will rotate in and out of the defensive line, including Zeller, Fagone, Nestor, Mark McMahon, Santino Foresta and Arthur Litko.With the move of Shonio, the defensive secondary is probably the most untested group for Swampscott. Costin and McDougall will probably see plenty of playing time, augmented by a cast of players like Robert Faia, Michael Walsh, A.J. Baker and Brian Sullivan.Barbuzzi is the team’s place-kicker, while Shonio is the punter and most experienced kick returner. The long-snapper’s job will be decided during the pre-season.Swampscott started its scrimmage schedule with games against Salem and Methuen, and hosts a usually-strong Fox