As we’re just hours from high school teams taking the field at Gillette Stadium in Super Bowl action, rewind 50 years – that’s when Swampscott traveled to Nickerson Field in Boston to take on Catholic Memorial, and become the first-ever Eastern Mass Super Bowl champions.
With head coach Stan Bondelevitch at the helm, Mike Jauron was quarterbacking the Big Blue in 1972 and said he can’t believe it’s been 50 years since Swampscott made history.
“Any time I talk about this game with family or friends, it feels like the game happened just a couple of years ago,” Jauron said. “This was not just a special day; it really was a special year that I was lucky enough to share with amazing people.”
When asked to go back to the day, Jauron’s quick response said it all.
“I still remember this day like it was yesterday,” Jauron said. “When we arrived at Nickerson Field, it’s a place where professional athletes have played on, so it was such an honor and felt like a dream come true. Nickerson Field was also an astroturf field, and back then, there was not many of these type of fields like there are today, which was another amazing experience to have had. When we took the field, there were so many fans in the stands for us and Catholic Memorial that it just made this game and day even more amazing.”
When looking through the history books, Swampscott’s postseason run was, and still is, very impressive.
“When looking back, people may see that our record was 10-0, and that Swampscott had been on a terrific run as a program for about six years, so it was no big surprise that we won,” Jauron said. “That is far from the case. We had a tough schedule that year, and when we started our Super Bowl run, we played against Salem, Marblehead, and Lynn English before we even got to the Super Bowl – who were all very strong teams. Lynn English was especially a very good team, and the only team we played against that may have been better than them was Catholic Memorial. Us defeating Catholic Memorial was just like adding icing to the cake.”
The 15-14 win over English ended with a 30-yard field goal.
Swampscott recently held a reunion to recognize the team, something Jauron holds dearly to his heart.
“Like I said earlier, this was a special group of guys, and it was great to see them all again,” Jauron said. “I played football for many years, at the high school and college level, and that 1972 team was the best team I ever was a part of. From the talent on the field to our preparation week-to-week, this group was all on the same page. It trickled down from the coaches to the players, but we all had one goal in mind, and were all pushing the same way to achieve this feat. As a bonus, everyone that was a part of this team were, and still are, awesome people.”
Jauron also described what it meant to be part of a football program like Swampscott’s back in the day.
“Whether you were a coach [or] player on the team, cheerleader, in the band, or just a fan, when we took the field back then, it was a big event that many people were a part of,” Jauron said. “There were even players on the team that were in the band, and at halftime, would go with the band to participate in the halftime performance, then suit back up for the second half.”
When asked to sum up the day, and year, one word stood out among the rest: fun.
“It truly was just a ton of fun to be a part of this program then,” Jauron said. “It was one of the best times in my life that I will always cherish and never forget.”
