Swampscott air show storms into Revere

REVERE – Most times, football is about taking advantage of opportunities. Friday at Della Russo Stadium, the Swampscott High football team took advantage of its scoring opportunities and defeated Revere, 28-0.Nick Meninno hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from Michael Walsh, who also threw another scoring pass to Richard Sullivan and added a rushing touchdown, all in the first half, for the Big Blue.Defensively, Swampscott (3-0) posted its first shutout of the season and held the Patriots (2-1) to less than 100 yards of total offense on a sloppy, foggy night.”Our goal is to get better every week,” Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said. “Getting (linebacker Zach) Kalapinski back helped us tonight, but we’ve still got some work to do.”Revere had a couple of chances at the end of each half but couldn’t convert its opportunities into points. The Patriots made it as far as the Swampscott 33 late in the first half, but Sullivan picked off a pass at the Big Blue’s 14-yard line with 50 seconds left, and then caught a 69-yard touchdown from Walsh on the last play of the half for a back-breaking score.”We did some things well, but not enough of them against a good football team like Swampscott,” Revere coach Lou Cicatelli said.Swampscott scored on its first three possessions. Walsh capped off an 8-play 69-yard drive with a 5-yard run off left tackle to give the Big Blue a 6-0 lead with 1:53 left in the first quarter.Revere’s second play from scrimmage on its ensuing drive ended with an interception by A.J. Baker, who returned the ball 46 yards down the left sideline to the Patriots’ 15. On the next play, Walsh connected with Meninno, who made a fine catch in the back right corner of the end zone.Swampscott held Revere on 4th-and-4 from the Big Blue 21 and Walsh found Joe DeSalvo for a 36-yard gain, to which a 15-yard personal foul on Revere was added to move the ball to the Pats’ 13. Two plays later, Walsh again hooked up with Meninno, who made a leaping 11-yard grab in the back of the end zone.”(Weather is) the same for both teams,” said Meninno, who along with his teammates seemed unaffected by the wet conditions. “But when you get a lead like that it’s tough for them to come back.”Revere’s defense buttoned up Swampscott in the second half and didn’t allow the Big Blue to cross midfield. The Patriots’ best drive came in the waning moments when they made it to Swampscott’s 5-yard line, but Revere couldn’t convert on 4th-and-3 with two minutes left in the game.