SWAMPSCOTT — Sixth-ranked Swampscott (Division 5) had a tough opponent in the third-ranked Danvers Falcons (Division 4) on Friday evening but were able to win its sixth straight game toppling the Falcons 34-7.
“We played all three phases of the game and we won all three phases of the game,” said head coach Bob Serino. “That’s what we look out to do every single game.”
The Big Blue’s defense came to play with two stops to start the first quarter. Swampscott also showed resilience after giving up a 40-yard pass from Travis Voisine put the Falcons in the red zone, it was still able to force a turnover on downs and gain possession of the ball with five minutes left in the first quarter.
Even after a 21-yard run by quarterback Cameron O’Brien, the Big Blue were forced to punt with two minutes left in the quarter. Standout running back Xaviah Bascon was struggling to gain yards against Danvers’ defense as the first quarter neared its end.
But Bascon was able to jump start the Big Blue on the other side of the ball, intercepting a pass from Voisine with 32 seconds left in the first quarter and giving Swampscott the ball on their opponents 12-yard-line. O’Brien made the Falcons pay for their mistake, sneaking in the end zone to give the Big Blue a 7-0 lead with 11:46 left in the second quarter.
Danvers started the next drive on Swampscott’s 49-yard-line but disaster struck as Voisine fumbled a snap and the Big Blue were able to gain possession with just under 8 minutes left in the half. O’Brien connected with Elijah Burns for an 80-yard touchdown pass that gave the Big Blue a 14-0 lead with 7:35 left in the half. Burns ended the night with over 100-yards receiving and also snagged a second touchdown catch in the second half.
Voisine’s turnover problems continued after a 57-yard touchdown run from Bascon that brought the score to 21-0 as Cole Hamernick intercepted the Danvers quarterback with just 3:14 left in the quarter. Hamernick capped off the drive catching an 18-yard pass in the endzone to extend Swampscott’s lead 28-0.
It seemed as though the half was reaching its conclusion but on what looked to be the last play of the second quarter, O’Brien was playing linebacker for the Big Blue left Colin Keiter on the turf after a big hit. Keiter was able to walk off the field under his own power but O’Brien was ejected from the game for targeting and will miss the Big Blue’s game next week.
It was clear that Swampscott missed O’Brien as they gave up a touchdown to Falcons running back Steven Reardon, which brought the score to 28-7 with 7:25 left in the third quarter. The Big Blue defense bounced back on the following drive, forcing a turnover on downs with just over 3 minutes left in the quarter. The defense continued their impressive performance in the fourth quarter not allowing a touchdown as both teams traded possession.
The Big Blue are now 6-0 and head on the road to play Beverly on Saturday (1).
