Big Blue hang on for victory

SWAMPSCOTT – It was a historic night at Blocksidge Field Thursday when Swampscott hosted Triton in the first ever night home game in Big Blue history. Leave it to the Big Blue and Vikings to give the packed house their money’s worth.After trailing for most of the night, Swampscott got two touchdown passes from Mike Walsh to A.J. Baker in less than three minutes to take a 24-23 fourth quarter lead. The Big Blue then had to hold on as Triton fumbled inside the one yard line with five minutes left to help put the game away.”Triton is a very good team,” Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said. “Coach (Patrick) Sheehan has something going up there with them but it’s a credit to our kids for coming back.”Triton (3-2) had controlled the game for most of the way thanks to the running of Derek Paquette (20-116) and the right arm of Blaise Whitman (20-30, 220 yards) and led 23-12 with 2:35 left in the third.Swampscott (5-0) responded with a trademark blazing fast drive as Walsh’s perfect strike to Baker from the 27 capped a six play, 76 yard march that took only 1:54.Ever the riverboat gambler, Dembowski went for an onside kick that caught everyone in the building by surprise. Frank Legere covered the loose ball at the Triton 49. Five plays later, Baker got open on a seam route and Walsh found him for a 21-yard score and the lead.”Coach (Bob) Serino challenged the offensive line at halftime and the way it worked out was great,” Dembowski said.Triton returned the ensuing kick to the Big Blue 47 and then used Paquette’s hard running to methodically move within inches of the goal line. But on fourth-and-goal from the six inch line, Whitman went under center for the first time and fumbled the snap, allowing the Big Blue to hold with 5:17 left.Walsh gave Swampscott three first downs, including one at the 2:00 warning with Triton dangerously low on timeouts. A personal foul penalty on the next play backed the Big Blue up and gave the Vikings some hope.But Walsh wasn’t to be denied as his 18-yard run on third-and-13 sealed the win.