SWAMPSCOTT — Last year the Swampscott football team was led by a talented young core and things clicked for the Big Blue. Swampscott finished up the 2018 season at 9-3 and made it to the Division 5 state semifinal before falling to a powerhouse Scituate team.
Now a year older, the Big Blue have plenty of returning players on a promising and skilled 2019 roster.
“Basically all our skill players are back this year,” Swampscott coach Bobby Serino said. “We have Graham Inzana back at quarterback, our two running backs Xaviah Bascon and Dylan January, and Andrew Augustin, Arturo Vasquez and Zach Palmer are all back at wide receiver.”
Swampscott will have some holes to fill up front but overall plenty of playmakers will be able to help the Big Blue offense and defense click.
“We have 75 percent of our core team back,” Serino said. “We lost some linemen but the skill players are all returning for us. We’re going to be a fast team. We just need to be able to stay healthy on the line because we don’t have much depth there.”
Senior linemen Anton Vasquez and Tyler Marshall will help lead the Big Blue up front joining fellow seniors Dylan January, Nick Reiser and Graham Inzana as Swampsott’s five captains. Inzana earned the spot after the hard work he put in this offseason, Serino said.
“Graham basically ran the 7-on-7’s this summer,” Serino said. “He earned that role as a captain. He’s a leader on the field. He is a little upset we haven’t let him play any defense but Graham has been reliable for us under center.”
The Big Blue found success last season but Serino knows nothing will come easy in the Northeastern Conference this fall.
“It will be tough,” Serino said. “They put us in a conference where a lot of the other schools have enrollment that is two or three times the size of ours. But we have to play it. Everything keeps changing with that but the game doesn’t change. Our focus each year is to stay healthy and play with these guys. Can it last year in year out? Probably not, but we’re going to keep playing.”
Swampscott kicks off the season at home Friday (7) against English at Blocksidge Field. Serino and the Big Blue are more than familiar with the Bulldogs and expect a tough matchup right from the start.
“We went over and saw them in a scrimmage in Peabody,” Serino said. “They’re big up front and have speed all over the field. Mathias Fowler is good at quarterback for them. We know they’ll have their team ready and we’ll do what we need to and be ready too.”
Schedule:
9/13 – vs. English (7)
9/20 – at Salem (7)
9/28 – at Beverly (1)
10/4 – vs. Winthrop (7)
10/11 – vs. Danvers (7)
10/18 – vs. Peabody (7)
10/25 – at Gloucester (7)
11/28 – at Marblehead (10)
