Santry leads Swampscott past Malden

SWAMPSCOTT – Senior quarterback Brian Santry led Swampscott on two second quarter drives to help the Big Blue past Malden, 27-19, at Blocksidge Field on a chilly Saturday afternoon.Santry tossed three touchdown passes and ran for another. He completed 15-of-30 passes for 249 yards.”Brian sparks the offense,” said Swampscott head coach Steve Dembowski. “We were able to convert some third-and-long plays today.”Swampscott (3-3) fell behind 19-6 early in the second quarter after the Golden Tornadoes (1-5) quarterback Jake Martino threw a 55-yard pass to senior wide receiver Jean Sylvain.The Big Blue and Santry did not appear to be shaken by the deficit. Swampscott took the ball on its next possession and drove 78 yards that culminated with Santry taking the ball on a 3-yard keeper up the middle into the end zone.In the final three minutes of the first half, Malden’s punter Ray Sainristill pinned Swampscott deep in its own territory. After a 7-yard loss brought the ball to their own 3, running back Aaron Cronin (two touchdowns) broke a long run into the Malden side of the field. A block in the back penalty brought the ball back to Swampscott’s 34-yard line. Like their early struggles, Swampscott was able to continue to grind. With a little over a minute until halftime, Josh Rothwell caught a 15-yard pass from Santry along the sideline for the game-winning score.The second half featured several big stops by the Big Blue defense. Malden’s offense was able to reach the red zone in the third quarter. On a 4th-and-9 play from the Swampscott 19, Martino’s pass fell incomplete. Late in the game, Malden, trailing by eight points, brought the ball to the Swampscott side of the field. Sainristill was stuffed at the Swampscott 34-yard line on 4th-and-1.”We didn’t put our defense in bad field position,” said Dembowski. “We are a scrappy team.”Swampscott scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Santry to Cronin that forced Malden to go for a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal.Punter Aidan Brawley was able to handle a low snap and kick the ball to the Malden 19-yard line in the last minute of the game. The Malden offense was only able to get to the 32-yard line before Martino’s final heave was incomplete.”It’s nice to get back to .500 in our nonconference schedule,” said Dembowski.