SWAMPSCOTT – The Swampcott High football team stayed undefeated with a 36-22 win over Salem Saturday afternoon at Blocksidge field.
Quarterback Graham Inzana fired four touchdown passes, and ran one in himself to pace the home team.
Junior captain Jonathan Oriakhi snagged two touchdown passes from Inzana, part of an 11-catch afternoon that tied a Big Blue record for receptions in a game. Oriakhi deflected praise from himself, and said his teammates deserve the credit.
“It was the offensive line that did the job (Saturday) for us, giving Graham (Inzana) time to find me and throw. He puts the ball on the money every time,” Oriakhi said. “Making plays and winning certainly gives us confidence. We focus on having good weeks of practice and transferring that into the game.”
the Bigi Blue scored first when Inzana hit Andrew Augustin from 17 yards out, but Salem responded right away with a Sam Lauren O’Furie touchdown run to leave the Witches trailing 7-6 heading into halftime.
The Witches took a 14-7 lead when O’Furie scored his second touchdown of the game in the third, and ran in the 2-point conversion. Swampscott responded just 21 seconds later, when Inzana threw a touchdown pass to Oriakhi, making the score 14-13.
After recovering a Salem fumble, the Big Blue were back in the end zone, with Oriakhi grabbing his second touchdown pass, this one from 16 yards out. Inzana hit Vasquez for the two-point conversion, putting the Big Blue ahead, 21-14.
Salem responded to take the lead back with 10:33 left to play. Jeffrey Holloway found Jayco Pena from nine yards out, and Devin Tolbert ran a reverse in for the conversion, putting the Witches back ahead, 22-21.
Trailing by a point in the fourth quarter, the Big Blue dusted off a razzle-dazzle play to jump ahead again. Inzana hit Andrew Augustin with a pass, and the sophomore lateralled the ball to a streaking Arturo Vasquez, who ran it in along the Salem sideline to complete at 60-yard touchdown. Augustin grabbed the conversion pass from Inzana, and the Blue were up, this time for good, 29-22.
With 3:35 left, Inzana ran in a touchdown from the 2-yard line, and Frisoli’s PAT made it a 36-22 ballgame. Inzana intercepted a Holloway pass with 1:48 to play, ending any Salem hopes of a comeback. Big Blue coach Bobby Serino said he liked what he saw Saturday afternoon.
“We played really well, we never quit, I thought the effort was excellent today on offense and defense,” Serino said. “We knew Salem was going to be fired up after losing to Saugus, so we knew we were in for a fight, and my guys responded. We wanted to be 4-0 heading into the Lynn English game and that’s where we are.”
Salem coach Matt Bouchard said he knew his team was in for a tough game Saturday.
“That was a great game, hats off to them, that’s why we love high school football right there,” Bouchard said. “We did everything we could to get ready for this game. I’m really proud of how my guys played. Swampscott made the plays that they had to today.”
Swampscott (4-0) visits English (3-1) Saturday afternoon (2:30). Salem (2-2) hosts Winthrop (2-2) Friday night (7).
