Watertown scored two touchdowns in the second half, coming back from a 14-point deficit, to beat Swampscott, 31-27, in its Division 5 North quarterfinal game Saturday at Blocksidge Field.
The Raiders spoiled Senior Day at Blocksidge, erasing a 21-7 Big Blue lead midway through the third quarter. Swampscott’s Colin Frary and Watertown’s Nick McDermott put on an air show. Frary hit Jake McIntire with a 53-yard touchdown pass, and McDermott responded with an 86-yard bomb to John Korte that put the Raiders up for good with 5:19 left.
Watertown coach John Cacace said his team plays hard and the players play for each other, and he knew they wouldn’t quit when they fell behind.
“I love this tournament, it’s awesome. You’ve got two good football teams going at it, we didn’t panic, we just stuck to what we do and got a great win against a good football team,” Cacace said. “This was a very exciting, entertaining game, of course we’re very happy with how the story turned out.”
The Raiders put the first points on the board when Mange Camara ran in from the 18 with 4:39 left in the first. Swampscott answered that score with three straight touchdowns to take its 14-point lead.
Frary hit Isaiah Bascon in the end zone a minute after the Watertown score, and Thomas Frisoli’s kick tied it up. The Blue went ahead when Frary found Dom Codispoti in the left corner of the end zone, putting the home team up by seven. It was a two-score lead when Frary found McIntire loose from the Watertown secondary, making it 21-7.
The Raiders made efficient use of the final three minutes of the second quarter. Matthew Muldrew ran in from the 10-yard line to make it 21-14 with 39 seconds left. Swampscott took the kick and tried to make something happen late. The Big Blue completed a pass on first down, but fumbled, and Conor Kennelly then kicked a 25-yard field goal with two seconds left to make it 21-17 at the break.
Watertown went ahead, 24-21, with 4:47 left in the third quarter, when Muldrew scored his second touchdown of the game from 39 yards out. Swampscott went back on top on the final play of the third quarter when Frary found Bascon with his fourth TD pass of the game, making it 27-24.
McDermott’s fourth quarter toss to Korte won the game for Watertown (4-4). Swampscott (6-2) had two chances to score, but Kennelly picked off a pass on one drive, and Korte knocked a fourth down pass away with 44 seconds left.
Big Blue coach Bobby Serino said it was a frustrating game, with too many turnovers by his team.
“The kids fought hard, we had some untimely penalties, and we had 3-4 turnovers that hurt us, and this team usually doesn’t turn the ball over,” Serino said. “We’ve got to bounce back, I told the guys we can finish 9-2, which is a very successful season for Swampscott football.”
Watertown (4-4) will play at Somerville in the semifinal round Friday night.
