Swampscott football makes statement with win over Beverly

BEVERLY – It turned out to be a defensive showcase at Hurd Stadium on Saturday as a packed house was on hand to witness a statement game by the Swampscott Big Blue.Renowned for their explosive offense, the Big Blue showed they could win with defense too as the Panthers were held off the scoreboard in the second half while Mike Walsh ran for two touchdowns and caught the game-winner from A.J. Baker in a 21-13 win.Click here for a photo gallery.”We thought it would be a game like last year,” Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said after getting a Gatorade bath in celebration of his 100th career win. “Beverly has some great players but my kids never quit and the defense played unbelievable.”The win puts the Big Blue (8-1, 3-0 NEC/CAL Tier 2) squarely in control of their own destiny for a playoff berth. Wins over Gloucester next week and Marblehead on Thanksgiving will give Swampscott the title.”It was a great game between two great teams,” Beverly coach Dan Bauer said. “We had our chances and didn’t take advantage of them.”Both teams emptied the tank and the playbooks on Saturday, as both teams threw completed passes to the starting quarterback and provided several breathtaking hits that got the crowd revved up.The Panthers (6-3, 2-1) got the ball and started things with a bang as they marched 83 yards in only six plays, capped by Brendan Flaherty’s 49-yard jaunt up the middle for a 7-0 lead.”I was disappointed with the drive to start the game,” Dembowski said. “But the whole team settled down and played great after that.”Swampscott had a 73-yard touchdown pass to Richard Sullivan called back on its second play from scrimmage but that didn’t deter the Big Blue. Walsh went 7-of-7 for 58 yards on a 13-play drive that took nearly seven minutes before he capped it with a two-yard run to tie the game after a quarter.Beverly immediately marched back down field as the second quarter began, eventually facing a fourth-and-seven at the Swampscott 27. Dave Rollins then proceeded to float a perfect pass over the fingertips of defender Baker into the hands of Flaherty for a 13-7 lead with 7:53 left in the half.”Flaherty is a tremendous player,” Dembowski said. “A.J. almost made a fantastic play there.”The Panthers were driving for another score late in the half but Rollins had a pass tipped and intercepted in the end zone by Frank Legere. The Big Blue immediately responded by quickly driving to the Beverly 49.Dembowski then went into his bag of tricks as Walsh threw a lateral to Baker, who pulled up and threw back across the field to the wide-open quarterback. Walsh did the rest, beating Kenny Pierce to the corner for a 14-13 halftime lead.”Credit to them for coming back with the reverse pass to the quarterback and catching us with it,” Bauer said.It stayed 14-13 until late in the third when the Big Blue began to march. A 13-yard gain by Evan Rhodes on the first play of the fourth period moved the ball to the Panther 25. Walsh gained 12 on the next play and then took it in from there one play later to make it 21-13 with 9:23 left.Beverly responded by hitching its wagons to Flaherty and driving deep into the red zone. But on fourth-and-two, the Big Blue stopped Rollins three inches short of the sticks to force a turnover.The Panthers held but could do nothing with a short field as Rollins threw an incompletion on fourth down with 1:53 remaining.