Football: Swampscott preps for trip to Winthrop

Swampscott was touted during the preseason as one of the football teams to watch this fall, and last Saturday’s 34-18 win over Somerville did nothing to cast doubt on that opinion.Quarterback Mike Walsh had a good day, running for two touchdowns and passing for a third, and in general the Big Blue looked like the veteran team they are.But looks can be deceiving, coach Steve Dembowski said.”It was a nice win,” he said, “but we had typical Week 1 mistakes. Offensively, we moved the ball pretty well, and defensively we made some stops. But we gave up some big plays too.”Friday night (7) the Big Blue are back in action at Winthrop’s Miller Field. And as anyone who’s ever followed high school football knows, going to Miller Field is always an adventure.”We’ve talked about the challenge of going to Winthrop,” said Dembowski. “Hopefully we have our A game. We had a good week of practice, and we’ll need it for the power running style Winthrop has this year.”Other games Friday:Manchester-Essex at SaugusAt Stackpole Field (7), the Sachems can only hope that this year’s night game is as successful as last year’s – a 41-20 victory over Bishop Fenwick.Saugus hopes to rebound from last week’s 20-0 loss to North Reading.Danvers at PeabodyAt Lee Field (7), both teams came up with big wins last Friday. The Tanners jumped out early to a 14-0 lead over Salem, and then hung on for dear life as the Witches mounted a late-game comeback.Danvers spotted Winthrop an 8-0 lead, but came roaring back to win, 18-8.Fenwick at WestonAt Weston (7), last week’s 34-14 loss to Northeast Regional was a bit deceiving, said coach Dave Woods, who said that if his team plays the same way the rest of the season, it’ll do fine.One of the highlights for the Crusaders was Lynn’s Rufus Rushins’ 65-yard TD run.Marblehead at IpswichAt Ipswich (7), both teams came away with victories last Friday, the Tigers eking out a 6-0 win over Triton while the Magicians hung on to defeat Pentucket, 14-12.The Magicians got a big defensive play to end the game when Bing Bial – who had earlier run back an interception 78 yards for a score – stuffed a two-point conversion with about a minute to go.Whittier at RevereAt Della Russo Stadium (7), it looks like Drew Lauria of the Patriots has inherited Trae Weathers’ moniker as the player to watch. Lauria scored three TDs in Friday’s 21-0 win over former Greater Boston League foe Medford.In other matchups, Gloucester tries to rebound from last week’s 41-0 loss to English by hosting Andover at Newell Stadium (7); while Salem visits Masconomet, also at 7.