NAHANT — Nick Reiser and Anton Vasquez are best friends, and have been since their days playing fierce games of tackle football in the Johnson School schoolyard.
“We’d be out every day at recess, playing tackle football, until someone came over and told us to stop,” said Reiser Wednesday, sitting in school gymnasium. “But once school was out, we’d go out after school and play all afternoon.
“We’d wear the same clothes we’d wear to school,” Reiser said. “By the time I’d get home, I was disgusting. All kinds of mud — everything. I went through more clothes.”
Reiser and Vasquez have maintained that friendship — and their love of football. They were among the five captains for the Swampscott High football team this year. The Big Blue were crowned the state champions in Division 5 last Saturday at the Massachusetts High School Super Bowl, which was played at Gillette Stadium in Swampscott. They were among 10 former Johnson School students who made the move to Swampscott High.
“Football is a very big deal in Swampscott said Vasquez, who lives a stone’s throw away from the Johnson School. “I was really happy we could give this (a state championship) to the town.”
Wednesday, Reiser, Vasquez, juniors Ryan Henry, Thomas Frisoli, Billy Conigliaro and Jordan Cummings; sophomores Xavier Bascon, Cole Hameernick, Yorin Herrer Gill; and freshman Braedan Bozardjian returned to their elementary school alma mater for an assembly that honored them.
With the entire student population gathered excitedly in the gym, the players marched into the strains of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” They signed autographs for the students, including several footballs that the pupils brought along to the event. Most important, they displayed the Harry Agganis championship trophy for all to see.
“When I was here, this was the only place I knew,” said Reiser. “I loved this place. It was really cool to grow up here. We were really encouraged to play sports.”
Like Reiser, Vasquez — who said he started playing football in the third grade — enjoyed growing up in the town.
“It was fun,” he said. “It feels weird being here, like nostalgia.”
Vasquez was an offensive and defensive lineman for the Big Blue this season, and says it was a transition for him.
“As a kid growing up, you always want to be the one with the ball in your hands,” he said. “But as you get older, I think blocking and tackling is fun.”
Vasquez said he always knew he was going to play football.
“I was a big kid growing up,” he said. “All those schoolyard football games really helped me,” he said. “Everywhere I went in football, Nick was right there with me.”
Reiser, who recalls his days with the Nahant Little League fondly — especially his 12-year-old season when the All-Star team went far in the District 16 Tournament — is one of two members of the Big Blue football team who will attend Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire on baseball scholarships. The other is Derek January.
Vasquez is undecided.
