SWAMPSCOTT — On Friday the Swampscott football team will be back on Blocksidge Field to start its preseason workouts. Last year, the Big Blue finished the regular season 5-3 and went on to qualify for the Division VI playoffs.
Despite the success Swampscott had last season, second-year head coach Peter Bush is looking forward to getting back onto the gridiron.
“Going into your first year as the head coach there’s obviously a lot of unknowns. Luckily we have really good kids with some great leaders. Last year we got great leadership and this year the group of seniors are also an elite leadership group and have taken command of the program,” Bush said. “They’ve done a great job of taking care of things during the winter and the spring and it carried over through the summer. It’s a great group and it’s been a pleasure to watch.”
Bush described that he was “lucky” to have a great group of guys that worked hard every week which made his first year as head coach a bit easier.
“I was really proud that week-in or week-out regardless if we won or lost our kids would come in on Saturday morning when we lifted or on Monday at practice and they would give the same effort and had great attitude. They never missed a beat,” Bush said. “When you’re a head coach and your team shows up with the right attitude every day it makes a big difference.”
The Big Blue lost four seniors due to graduation who played key minutes and roles for Bush. Luckily for Swampscott, they have returning players who played a lot last year.
“Obviously it was a small group, but all four seniors played a pivotal role on the team. We have a large group of juniors from last year’s team who gained valuable experience and will be competing for more playing time this year. We return a large group of seniors who played a lot as sophomores and again as juniors so we have a good amount of experience on the team,” Bush said.
One returning player is Liam Keaney who was a junior captain last year and will be one of the four captains this year. Keaney was voted as a captain by his teammates last season and Bush is excited to have him back for his senior campaign.
The other three captains are Jermey Kaplan, Joseph Marino, and Timmy Sheehan.
“Liam was a junior captain last year and was voted for by his teammates so he’s a returning captain. The other three kids have, just like the rest of the senior group, shown leadership in a multitude of ways. Whether it’s vocally or leading by example, we’re excited for our four captains, but I’m really excited how our elite leadership as a whole will pan out,” Bush said.
One position to look out for during the preseason is the quarterback situation. Last year’s quarterback Jack Spear transferred meaning there’s open competition at the quarterback position. According to Bush, there are two sophomores pushing for the spot: John Von Barta and Tegh Sembhi.
“John Von Barta is going to be a sophomore and who played pivotal minutes on the lacrosse team that made it to the Final Four will be in the mix. Tegh Sembhi is another sophomore who has been taking reps at quarterback over the summer,” Bush said. “In addition to these two, we have seniors who are capable of playing quarterback for us. We’re excited to see the kids compete and work hard to earn their playing time.”
Swampscott’s first regular season game will be a home game against St. Mary’s on Friday, September 6 at 7 p.m.
Complete schedule:
Friday, September 6 – vs. St. Mary’s – 7 p.m.
Friday, September 13 – @ Lynn English – 7 p.m.
Friday, September 20 – vs. Peabody – 7 p.m.
Friday, September 27 – vs. Melrose – 7 p.m.
Thursday, October 10 – @ Gloucester – 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 17 – @ Winthrop – 6:30 p.m.
Friday, October 25 – vs. Saugus – 7 p.m.
Friday, November 1 – @ Salem – 7 p.m.
Thursday, November 28 – @ Marblehead – 10 a.m.
