Swampscott delivers fourth comeback in a row

WATERTOWN – The Swampscott football team pulled off another stunner Friday night.The Big Blue fashioned their fourth comeback in as many games in the first round of the Division 4 North playoffs, defeating Watertown, 24-21.The winning score came with 56 seconds left in the game when Devin Conroy hit Michael Faia with a short pass, and Faia did the rest, running 13 yards to the end zone.Conroy then hit Dante Ceccarelli with the conversion pass.Watertown marched back down field, but time ran out for the Raiders just as they were knocking at the door one last time.The Big Blue trailed, 21-10, going into the fourth quarter, but scored with 9:08 to go when Conroy hit Ryan Cresta with a 5-yard pass to make it 21-16. It was the ninth play of a drive that started on the Big Blue 44.The Raiders took a 14-0 lead when quarterback Nick Giordano scored on a 21-yard keeper, and then hit Austin Farry in the end zone, and Farry outfought a Big Blue defender to get the ball.Cresta put Swapscott on the board on the ensuing kickoff, returning it 90 yards, with Jeremy Epstein scoring the PAT.That made it 14-7 at the end of the half.Epstein kicked a field goal in the third quarter to bring Swampsott to within four (14-10). The drive was kept alive by a flea flicker, with Tuckekr Merritt hitting Conroy for a 40-yard completion.?You can?t leave any plays in the closet,” Big Blue coach Steve Dembowski said.However, Zachary Rimsa scored on a 31-yard burst up the middle late in the third quarter, setting the stage for Swampscott?s comeback.?Watertown is a very good football team,” Dembowski said. “They took away the things we do well.?We used a couple of big plays on both sides of the ball,” he said.Dembowski was effusive in his praise for Mark Rittiboon on defense, who had four tackles for losses, three of them in the second quarter alone.?Mark?s a ferocious, relentless worker,” Dembowski said. “He?s a perfect example of what a football player should be. He?s a tremendous leader and an excellent student, we?re fortunate to have him as a captain.”Swampscott will play the winner of tonight?s Saugus/Lynnfield game next week.?It?s going to be another tough challenge,” Dembowski said. “This division is packed.”