SWAMPSCOTT— The Big Blue of Swampscott played true to their name, taking down Bay Path RVT, 28-14, at Blocksidge Field to kick off the Division 6 tournament in style.
Swampscott, ranked seventh, started with a bang in front of the home faithful. With No. 10 Bay Path threatening in the redzone, Henry Beuttler recovered a fumble and took it 89 yards to the house (6-0).
Despite a visiting-team response to tie the game, the Big Blue answered. John von Barta spotted Nakeylen Davis on a screen pass. Davis turned on the jets and took it 32 yards to give Swampscott a lead toward the end of the first half.
“Resiliency,” said Swampscott coach Peter Bush. “Our kids, they didn’t panic. There’s no familiar opponents or anything like that.”
Bay Path, however, kept fighting and took a 14-13 lead into the break.
Swampscott responded in the second half with touchdowns from Barta and Beuttler, who raced 67 yards with a minute remaining in the third quarter. Add a safety from Jay Domelowicz, and the hole became too deep for Bay Path to climb out of. Gabe Tripp joined the party and went home with an interception.
“I thought in the second half, our kids just kept playing and they didn’t slow down,” Bush said. “Inside the locker room, there was no one hanging their heads or anything like that. They couldn’t wait to get back out. So, hats off to the kids.”
Swampscott will take on the winner of Saturday afternoon’s game between No. 2 Stoneham and No. 15 Oakmont Regional (2 p.m.).
“We’re going to get up tomorrow, we’re going to lift weights, we’re going to go to the JV game, and we’re going do stuff that we’ve been doing since the first week,” Bush said. “Nothing is going to change for us. You know, these guys are fully committed to getting better every day. So, you know, it’s business as usual.”
Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism
