Marblehead vs. Swampscott rivalry never gets old

SWAMPSCOTT – Patrick Lyons stood beside his grandfather Monday night as conversation turned to the little-known quirk about the 1942 Thanksgiving Day football game between Swampscott and Marblehead.It went down in the books as a 7-7 tie, but Roger “Bud” Williams remembers this: “If they?d scored it the way they score the games today, we?d have won, 8-7.”?We” is Swampscott and Williams, 89, goes about as far back with this game as anyone who attended Monday night?s Swampscott-Marblehead Gridiron Club Old-Timers dinner.?We get the war stories every year,” said Lyons, who was a senior when current Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski was in his first season. “Every year, we get a new one.”Williams says that Swampscott had scored late in the game to make the score 7-6, and he caught a pass in the end zone for the conversion.?In those days, that was only worth one point,” he said. “Now, of course, it?s worth two. We?d have won.”Also on hand was Ed Barry of Marblehead, 90, who played in that game.Williams said he tackled Barry at one point during the game.?As a matter of fact,” said Williams, a two-way “iron man football” end on that team. “Yes, I did.”Barry says that there really isn?t much difference between football in 1942 and now, except for the difference in scoring and “the fact that the players are so much bigger today than they were then.?But I wouldn?t say they?re that much more talented,” he said. “Those are very talented boys who play today, but we had talented kids too.”And lest anyone think otherwise, the rivalry was just as intense in the World War II years as it is today.?Oh, yes,” said Barry. “It was just as competitive. We wanted to win; they wanted to win.”In fact, Barry said, even now, all these years later, overt hostilities may have waned, but there?s always a residue of memory about how intense those days were.?We?re friends,” he said, “but it?s always there.”The Gridiron Clubs of the respective schools have run this dinner seemingly forever, and it almost always turns into a good-natured evening where both current coaches – Dembowski of Swampscott and Jim Rudloff of Marblehead – get to introduce their staffs and talk about their seasons.Among the many luminaries who have played in this game (including the likes of Dick Jauron, Mike Lynch and Sandy Tennant) is ESPN reporter Todd McShay, who covers college sports for the network at the highest level (he?s even had comedian Frank Caliendo rib the contrasting styles of he and partner Mel Kiper Jr.), who was the guest speaker Monday.?I often ask myself why this is such a big deal,” McShay said. “It?s not about talent. There are no Division 1 prospects playing. But it?s about passion, tradition and competition. I remember when I was in high school (Swampscott High 1995) we?d compete like wild men against kids from Marblehead in almost anything.”Of course, much has changed, including the nickname of Swampscott High.?I remember,” says Williams, “we were the Sculpins (politely defined as bottom-feeding fish). But Stan (Bondelevitch) came and he didn?t like being called a Sculpin. So, we became the Big Blue.”Another tradition of the dinner is the Monsignor John P. Carroll Award for service to youth football. This year?s recipient was Nick Meninno of Meninno Construction, who helped install a new drainage system at Blocksidge Field in Swampscott two years ago.