LYNN — It was the Ishmile Bangura show Saturday at Manning Field as the speeding English running back ran over, under, sideways and down to help the Bulldogs defeat Swampscott, 27-14.
Bangura scored four touchdowns and ran for 212 yards on 27 carries as the Bulldogs handed Swampscott its first loss of the season (the teams have identical 4-1 records now, though the Bulldogs are undefeated in the Northeastern Conference).
On a day when English quarterback Matt Severance broke his coach’s (Chris Carroll) career passing record (see story on Page A1), Bangura stole the spotlight. And he said he didn’t know he’d be the focal point.
“Really, I think the defense won the game for us. We just made some plays on offense and the defense really won it for us,” Bangura said. “I think we started out wanting to pass the ball, and it just happened that I carried it a lot. We did what the coaches said and did what we did.”
For Swampscott, missed opportunities, along with Bangura’s performance, proved too much to overcome.
English scored the first two times it had the ball. With Bangura scoring the first of his four touchdowns from four yards out, capping a 16-play drive that ate seven minutes off the clock. The first of Tyler Drinan’s three conversion kicks put the Bulldogs up 7-0.
The second scoring run by Bangura was much quicker. On the second play of its next possession, the senior made a quick cut and sprinted down the English sideline, an 88-yard scoring play.
English quarterback Matt Severance said it’s pretty nice to have Bangura lining up behind him in the backfield.
“We made some mistakes we don’t usually make early, but Ishmile and the defense really stepped up. I know he can break one any time he gets the ball,” Severance said. “Next to Classical, those guys are our big rivals, so to beat them, they’re a really good team, it says something about our team.”
Swampscott fought back to make it a 14-14 game at the break. Dylan January turned an English fumble into a score, and Graham Inzana fired a touchdown pass to Andrew Augustin, and the conversion pass to Jonathan Oriakhi, to even things up.
The second half was all English. The Bulldogs got two more scores from Bangura, forced two Big Blue turnovers deep in Swampscott territory, and stopped Swampscott twice on fourth-and-goal, just like they did in the first half.
Big Blue coach Bobby Serino said the only thing he didn’t like was losing the game on a day and game dedicated to the late Jeff Blydell, who had deep ties to both schools.
“I think the thing that hurt us today was them keeping our defense on the field so long,” Serino said. “I don’t like losing, but there is so much emotion in this game, winning or losing, the kids know why we play this game. Life goes by too quick, that’s for sure.”
Carroll also said it was an emotional afternoon.
“Jeff Blydell was a personal friend of mine, it’s a great tradition, this game, he was a Lynn guy, coached at both schools, his kids played for Swampscott, it’s a wonderful honor for a guy that deserves every bit of it,” Carroll said. “He was a great guy and we’re happy that we were able to bring the trophy back to Lynn English this year.”
The Bulldogs visit Salem Friday night (7). Swampscott (4-1) hopes to bounce back with a victory next Saturday afternoon (2:30) when the Big Blue host Revere.
