Two scoring plays by Triton lead to Swampscott loss

BYFIELD – In a game essentially devoid of sustained offense, Triton hit two long scoring plays early in each half and shut down Swampscott, 15-0, Friday night at Memorial Stadium.Swampscott finished with 164 net yards with Triton only slightly better at 214. The teams combined for more total punts (17) than first downs (14). Swampscott’s Mike Faia punted eight times for a 30.2-yard average while Triton’s Ellsworth Rogers booted it nine times for a 32.7 average. Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said the Big Blue reverted to mistakes he thought had been ironed out during the pre-season.”We have 10 seniors out there playing on both sides of the ball. They just have to relax. They try so hard that they’re almost over-trying and not staying with their responsibilities,” he said.Defensively, other than the first drive, I thought we played pretty well. The offense has to catch up. We made a lot of mental mistakes and had a lot of miscommunication. We didnÕt do our jobs consistently,” he said.Triton scored on the game’s fifth play when senior quarterback Justin Cashman kept around the left side and scampered 47 yards. He tacked on the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with just 2:31 played.Cashman showed confidence in his first start as he rushed for 84 yards on 10 carries and completed 6-of-14 passes for 79 yards and a score.Swampscott mounted a mild threat to close the half, set up by Ryan Cresta’s 17-yard punt return. Quarterback Devin Conroy scampered for eight and 20 yards on consecutive plays, bringing the Big Blue to the Triton 25 but the half ended on an incomplete pass into a crowd in the end zone.Triton began the second half as it did the first — with a score. After forcing a three-and-out on Swampscott’s first possession, the Vikings covered 56 yards in seven plays. Cashman twice connected with Jack Germinara , first for 17 yards and then on a 25-yard TD strike with Germinara five yards clear of the secondary on a seam route. Max Luttenbacher’s PAT completed the evening’s scoring with 7:04 left in the third quarter.Swampscott countered with its best drive of the night — a 15-play drive that reached the Triton 11 but got knocked off schedule by a five-yard loss on a fumble and fizzled at the 13. Conroy rushed for 25 yards on the drive and completed passes of 12 yards to Anthony Rizzo and eight to Cresta to put the Big Blue in position.Conroy led Swampscott with 56 yards on 15 carries and Jordan James added 37 yards on seven carries.