Big Blue football rolls past Swampscott

SAUGUS – Back in September, the Swampscott football team set a goal to go to Thanksgiving Day with a chance to play for a third consecutive Northeastern Conference South division championship.On Saturday at a chilly Stackpole Field, the Big Blue gave themselves a chance to get that three-peat by dominating from start to finish in a 28-0 win over the Sachems.”This was our goal back when practice started,” Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said. “And we’re happy to be able to get back and be able to play for a championship.”Even though the Big Blue still have a game at home with Beverly before their Thanksgiving clash with Marblehead, they and the Magicians are both assured of being the only teams with one league loss going into the final game..Swampscott (7-2, 3-0 NEC South) won the toss and took the ball and proceeded to set the tone for the day. Driving 67 yards in just six plays, Kyle Shonio gave the Big Blue a 7-0 lead with a 12-yard touchdown run.Saugus went three-and-out on its first possession of the day and a short punt gave the Big Blue the ball at its 41. A 20-yard pass from Matt Barbuzzi to Randall Kelleher got Swampscott rolling again.Barbuzzi, who hit on his first 13 passes of the game, then hit A.J. Baker for a 29-yard gain to the nine before Kelleher capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown catch to make it 14-0.Late in the quarter, Swampscott got the ball back and needed only one play to up the lead to 21-0 as Shonio shook off three defenders en route to a 41-yard touchdown with 2:23 left in the first.”We took the ball and wanted to score first and put them in chase mode,” Dembowski said. “And we did that.”The Sachems would put together a sustained drive that lasted until midway through the second quarter, but they were forced to punt. Late in the half after the Big Blue blocked another Saugus punt, then delivered the knockout punch.Shonio ran for 19 yards before Barbuzzi threw a 10-yard strike to a wide open Peter Yasi one-play later to make it 28-0 at the break.”Swampscott is a good team. They are well coached and they executed well,” Saugus coach Mike Broderick said.The rest of the game belonged to the Big Blue defense, which limited the Sachems to 104 yards and only six first downs in the contest.