SWAMPSCOTT — The offense came to play for the No. 2 Swampscott football team Friday night, as the Big Blue rolled to a 55-19 victory over No. 15 Apponequet in the opening round of the Division 5 playoffs Friday night at Blocksidge Field.
Running back Xaviah Bascon had another big night for the Big Blue, rushing for more than 100 yards to go along with four rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Cam O’Brien, who was back in the lineup after missing the regular season finale last week, threw three touchdown passes in the win — one each to receivers Elijah Burns, Nakaree Davis and Cole Hamernick. Running back Anthony Nichols also rushed for a touchdown in the win.
The Big Blue fell behind to start this one, as Apponquet punched in a one-yard touchdown following a sustained drive to take a 7-0 lead with two minutes to play in the first.
But Swampscott answered right back on the ensuing drive, as O’Brien found Hamernick on a quick pass and Hamernick took it 27 yards to the house to tie things up at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
After forcing Apponequet to punt on the ensuing drive, Swampscott got the ball back and started driving again. It paid off, as the Big Blue pushed the ball inside the five-yard line before Bascon punched in a run from three yards out to put Swampscott ahead 14-7 midway through the second quarter.
After forcing and recovering a fumble on the ensuing drive, Swampscott struck again quickly when O’Brien heaved a long bomb to Burns for a 70-yard touchdown to make it a 20-7 game in the blink of an eye.
A few minutes later, after the Big Blue got the ball back, O’Brien turned what could have been a terrible play into a stellar one when he picked up a muffed snap and threw a 50-yard pass to Bascon to put Swampscott on the goal line. After Bascon finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run, the Big Blue took a 27-7 lead into the halftime break.
After O’Brien found Davis for a 12-yard less than two minutes into the third quarter, the floodgates opened for the Big Blue. Swampscott added two more touchdowns on long runs from Bascon (26 yards and 51 yards) and a run from Nichols (15 yards) to stretch the lead to 55-13 by the end of the third quarter.
The Big Blue coasted from there, pulling out the starters as the clock ran in the fourth quarter.
Swampscott (9-0) now moves on to face No. 7 Dover-Sherborn in the Division 5 quarterfinal next Friday (7).