SWAMPSCOTT — Last year was a magical season for the Swampscott football team. The Big Blue put it all together and ended the season with a dominating 21-0 win over Amherst in a Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium to be crowned Division 5 state champions.
Now, after a year for the record books, it’s time for Swampscott to turn the page and gear up for another season at Blocksidge Field.
And with 11 seniors from last year’s squad graduating and a delayed season without a normal offseason, there’s a lot to catch up on.
“We’re actually moving forward well each day,” said Swampscott coach Bobby Serino, who won the 2019 Peter Gamage Coach of the Year Award at the 74th Item All-Star Football Dinner. “What we’ve seen is that when you miss all the summer workouts, 7-on-7s and camp, there’s a lot to make up for. We’re also spread pretty thin so we didn’t schedule any scrimmages this year. We’re pretty much one deep across the board at every position.”
Without a deep roster, the Big Blue will need their key returners to step up big this year. Luckily, on the defensive side, Swampscott has a good chunk of its core back in middle linebacker Jake Papazoglou and defensive linemen Angelo Ciciotti and Thomas Frisoli.
Ciciotti and Frisoli also help anchor the offensive line on the other side of the ball at each tackle while Cam O’Brien, who had a successful season at tight end in 2019, will drop back to quarterback for Big Blue this season. Junior running back Xaviah Bascon and wide receiver Andrew Augustin also are returning to bring big play potential to Swampscott’s offense.
There will be plenty of new faces as well to fill in, but that doesn’t mean they’re not used to facing high caliber competition in the past.
“We had some pretty good kids that had to play on the practice squad against last year’s starters,” Serino said. “So that’s some of the best athletes in the Northeastern Conference they went against. Last year’s class were great role models too. They made them work hard and they learned a lot from that group. We look alright heading into the season.”
Without a state tournament at the end of the Fall II season, the Big Blue won’t get a chance to defend their Division 5 crown, but there’s still plenty to play for this season.
“We haven’t won an NEC title in 12 years, so that’s what our goal is,” Serino said. “We’re going to take it game by game.”
Swampscott and Serino will also be dedicating the season to long-time Swampscott high art director and former football and tennis coach Richard Baldacci, who died in May 2020. Baldacci created a celebrated weekly tradition that has lasted three decades for the Big Blue. He would draw a poster before every week that was awarded to a deserving player following each game.
“We’re playing tribute to one of our biggest supporters in Swampscott for more than 39 years,” Serino said of Baldacci. “It’s a huge loss for the community. We’ll be wearing decals on the back of our helmets with his initials. All the kids knew him, so they know how much it means.
“Richard’s all-time quote was, ‘there are two types of people, those who are in the huddle and those that aren’t,’” Serino said.
Swampscott opens up the season Saturday afternoon (4) on the road at Salem.
