A high five for Big Blue
Hold off Indians comeback for North title
SWAMPSCOTT – As his players ran around and celebrated a Division 5 North final win that required every inch of effort to come away victorious, Swampscott football coach Bob Serino Jr. could hardly contain his emotions. After a fast start by the top-seeded Big Blue in which quarterback Graham Inzana connected with Andrew Augustin for three of his four touchdown passes to build a sizable lead, No. 2 Amesbury scratched and clawed with screens and trick plays to battle back and make a game of it. The Indians even had a chance to tie and reverse a once-dominant defensive performance from Swampscott with under four minutes to go, but a late interception sealed their fate to help the Big Blue hold on for a 34-26 win. It was a gutsy stand for a team that hadn’t won a sectional championship since the new playoff format was established in 2013. So, to come away victorious the way it did to advance to a Div. 5 state semifinal was a special moment for Serino. “If we got up on these guys, we knew they weren’t going to quit,” he said as he held back tears. “… This goes to the kids. These kids have worked for it and they’ve accomplished something that we haven’t done in a long time. After a dominant first half in which the Swampscott defense allowed just 42 yards from scrimmage to help Big Blue take a 20-6 lead into the half, Amesbury started to switch things up a bit to get the ball moving in the third quarter. A long screen pass to Jacob Robinson set up a 4-yard touchdown run from Patrick Birmingham to cut the lead to 20-12. Inzana and Augustin connected on a 20yard TD in response, but continued success with kick returns gave the Indians short field position for Birmingham to pick up a 27yard rushing score thereafter. Amesbury’s defense didn’t improve too much immediately by allowing a 48-yard touchdown to Arturo Vasquez on a wide receiver screen. The Indians kept hope alive by picking up 39 yards on a fake punt and scoring on Ethan Catania’s 5-yard touchdown catch with 4:20 left in the game. Amesbury forced a turnover-on-downs at the Swampscott 46 after a ques- tionable decision by the Big Blue to run a fake punt, but Swampscott recovered by forcing a rushed long pass that Zack Palmer intercepted to ultimately ice the game. “These are high school kids, the game’s never over,” he said. “(Amesbury) came out and did a couple of trick plays that we didn’t see all season, and they hit them .… Our guys kept playing.” Swampscott was cruising before Amesbury’s improved second half, too. Inzana connected with Augustin for a 6-yard touchdown on an opening drive that nearly lasted six minutes. The defense forced a turnover-on-downs and a three-and-out on Amesbury’s first two drives to set up a 16-yard touchdown between Inzana and Augustin. The quarterback finished 11-for-19 with 160 passing yards and four touchdowns, while Augustin had five catches for 80 yards and three touchdowns. Amesbury’s Blake Bennett scored on a 1-yard run to make it 14-6, but the ensuing kickoff ended with Palmer pointing through the end zone as he ran for an 85-yard return touchdown. “(The fast start) was very important,” Augustin said. “If that didn’t happen, who knows.”