PEABODY — It isn’t how you start but how you finish, and the Swampscott football team was able to hang on for a 28-21 victory over Peabody in a Northeastern Conference bout at Coley Lee Field Friday night.
With more than 100 yards rushing, senior Xaviah Bascon led the Big Blue in rushing and also to victory.
Head coach Bob Serino said that his running back “knows how it is” and believes he can’t do it by himself.
“He complements his line and our line after the first drive said ‘run the ball,'” said Serino. “(Bascon) is a good running back but he compliments his line every game.”
The Tanners got on the scoreboard quickly, driving 63 yards in just over five minutes. Sophomore Alexander Silva broke off a 35-yard run before senior Shea Lynch threw a five-yard touchdown to senior Michael Perez to give Peabody a 7-0 lead with 9:22 left in the first quarter.
Peabody’s defense started the game on a positive note as well, forcing a Big Blue three and out and regaining possession with 7:35 left in the opening quarter.
Swampscott bounced back, stopping Peabody at its own 37. Bascon returned the punt back to Peabody’s 36 and the Big Blue made quick work of the Tanners defense with quarterback Cameron O’Brien seeing a hole and rushing 38 yards to make it 7-7 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
The Big Blue showed their dominance once more after stopping Peabody, driving 66 yards down the field in a drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes. Staring at their own 34-yard line, they found the end zone with some trickery as junior Elijah Burns took a reverse 10 yards to the end zone to give Swampscott a 14-7 lead with five minutes left in the second quarter.
Peabody responded with a four-minute, 66-yard drive that concluded with Colin Ridley taking a pass from Lynch 27 yards to the end zone and once again tying the game at 14-14 with 1:14 left in the half.
It seemed that the scoring was done for the half, but the Big Blue drove 40 yards in less than a minute and Burns fought his way to the end zone after catching a laser from the arm of O’Brien to give Swampscott a 21-14 lead entering halftime.
After stopping Swampscott from getting another touchdown to start the third quarter, Peabody started its first drive of the half from its own 41 with 9:16 left in the third. It took four minutes for the Tanners to drive down the field as Lynch connected with Danny Barrett in the air for a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game up at 21-21 with just over five minutes left in the quarter.
Thanks to a combination of mental mistakes from Swampscott and some quality defending, Peabody forced the Big Blue offense to return to the sidelines empty-handed once more. The Tanners regained possession with just over a minute left in the third quarter looking to gain a late lead over Swampscott, but they couldn’t take advantage and were forced to punt with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
Serino told his players at the beginning of the year that the only team that could beat the Big Blue was themselves.
“Tonight, we almost beat ourselves with penalties,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do and sometimes they are physical mistakes, sometimes they are stupid mistakes. We can’t have that many penalties.”
The X-factor for the Big Blue came through when needed most, with Bascon receiving a heavy dose of carries and punching it home from two yards out to give Swampscott a 28-21 lead with 4:22 left in the game.
The Big Blue’s defense answered the bell on Peabody’s final drive of the night, securing a sack with 1:27 left in the game to force a turnover on downs and clinch the victory.
Now 1-4, The Tanners head to Winthrop next Friday (7).
The Big Blue, on the other hand, are 5-0 and return home to Blocksidge Field to face Danvers Friday (7).
