Undoubtedly, the Swampscott football team came into the 2019 season with high expectations. With 11 seniors on the roster and a handful of other returners who contributed to the team’s Division 5 state semifinal run a year ago, everything was in place for Swampscott to have a year to remember.
But it’s one thing to have the pieces in place and it’s another thing to actually make it happen. The Big Blue made it happen.
Swampscott started the season with a 33-30 loss to Lynn English in the first night game played under the new lights at Blocksidge Field. Then the Big Blue found their identity and proceeded to win five of their next six, with victories over Salem (35-8), Beverly (27-20), Winthrop (28-6), Peabody (21-0) and Gloucester (42-0). The lone defeat along the way was a 7-6 loss to Danvers under heavy downpours. The Big Blue closed their regular season at 5-2, good for the No. 4 seed in the Division 5 North state tournament.
Swampscott coasted past Weston for a 55-6 rout in the opening round. The quarterfinal round at top-seed Pentucket, however, came down to the final seconds. Pentucket whittled Swampscott’s lead to 14-13 on its final drive and opted to attempt a game-winning 2-point conversion rather than kick a game-tying PAT. Swampscott linebacker Cam O’Brien broke up the play and the Big Blue marched on.
Swampscott’s defense was more than ready for Amesbury’s wing-T in the sectional final, a 39-8 Big Blue win.
The Big Blue weren’t intimidated by the bright lights of the state semifinal this time around. Quarterback Graham Inzana tossed three touchdown passes and ran for 89 yards in the 20-12 win over Holliston- punching Swampscott’s ticket to the Division 5 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium.
“We weren’t going to run Graham all year because we weren’t going to run him into the ground,” Swampscott coach Bobby Serino said after the win. “We knew he was one of our best runners and they’ll know that come Super Bowl time.”
And that’s where Swampscott let its true colors shine. In a picture-perfect defensive effort, Swampscott held previously undefeated Amherst to just 53 yards of total offense. When Amherst marched inside Swampscott’s 40-yard line, Zack Palmer was there to end the threat with a third-quarter interception in the 21-0 win.
“Shutout,” said Serino, the Item’s Peter Gamage Coach of the Year. “(Defensive coordinator Peter Bush) said to me, “I know we argue but we argue for a reason — the last goal, to play the last game of the season. And it was one long season. I’ve said it 20,000 times, I have the best coaching staff in the state. I push them to the absolute breaking point and they push their guys to the absolute breaking point. That’s why we’re here. The kids responded.”
