Big Blue smother Saugus in shutout performance
Sep. 30—SWAMPSCOTT — The Big Blue of Swampscott have never had an avian mascot, but on this night they might as well have been known as the ball hawks.
Four interceptions by four different Swampscott High players were the highlight of a dominant effort on defense as the hosts downed Saugus, 38-0, Thursday night at Blocksidge Field.
Perhaps it was senior savvy that led to all those turnovers, since 12th graders had all four picks. Elijah Burns, who had 107 yards receiving and a touchdown, had one while classmates Jason Codispoti, Liam Keaney and Chris Ferragamo had the others.
"The seniors are doing their jobs. They're leading the way they're supposed to lead," said Swampscott head coach Bob Serino. "The way coach (Peter) Bush gets our defense ready to play, not much they do out there comes as a surprise."
Winless Saugus (0-4) had a hard time moving the ball, with only six yards from scrimmage and no first downs by halftime. The Big Blue (2-2) were a bit out of sync on offense, though, leading only 7-0 after one and 21-0 after two despite a hefty 180-6 edge in yardage. It was the suffocating defense that gave Swampscott's offense the time it needed to work out the kinks and find the scoreboard to pull away.
Senior quarterback Zack Ryan finished with 220 yards passing after completing 21 passes out of a busy 32 attempts. He connected with Ferragamo (6 yards) for one score, then saw sophomore Nakeylen Davis post a highlight reel play for another: after catching the ball about 15 yards from the end zone, he spun off one tackler and pulled his leg away from another before racing the rest of the way to make it 21-0 late in the first half.
"He's going to be a special player," said Serino, whose program has won 18 in a row on the field against the Sachems (not including a 2015 forfeit).
Burns caught a 33-yard pass but was tackled just outside the end zone early in the third. The Big Blue couldn't punch it in, settling for a 22-yard field goal from Aydan Wulff (who was also perfect on extra points). On the next series, Burns wasn't going to be denied again, taking a crosser 38 yards to the house for Ryan's third TD of the day.
"Zach's getting better and better with his reads," Serino said. "With the receivers we have, especially Burns, if we just get the ball good things happen."
Freshman Will Bush amassed 47 yards rushing in the fourth, setting up a final TD run by sophomore Henry Beuttler.
Codispoti rumbled for 85 yards and a first quarter score and with Saugus using a rush heavy attack the tackles-for-loss were copious: Jack Hazel, Ethan Gee and Burns had two each, Stefanos Gentry had one as did Holden Riddell.
Head coach Steve Cummings' Sachems played tough, with some excellent linebacking play by junior captains Braden Faiella and Tommy DeSimone, the latter of whom took the majority of the snaps as a wildcat QB in the second half as Cam Preston was injured.
"I have all the respect in the world for Steve and I think he's doing a heck of a job," Serino said. "They had some kids banged and being a small school, too, I understand the low numbers. It's hard to have a look team and get going the way you want in practice. We're all struggling with numbers these days."
Swampscott 38, Saugus 0
at Blocksidge Field, Swampscott
Saugus (0-4) 0 0 0 0 0
Swampscott (2-2) 0 0 0 0 0
Scoring summary
Sw — Jason Codispoti 15 run (Aydan Wulff kick)
Sw- Chris Ferragamo 7 pass from Zack Ryan (Wulff kick)
Sw- Nakeylen Davis 18 pass from Ryan (Wulff kick)
Sw- Wulff 22 FG
Sw- Elijah Burns 38 pass from Ryan (Wulff kick)
Sw- Henry Beuttler 7 run (Wulff kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Saugus — Tommy Desimone 12-42, Chris Mazin 1-13, Danny Shea 4-4, Cam Preston 2-(-9) ; Swampscott — Jason Codispoti 14-85, Will Bush 5-47, Henry Beuttler 2-10, Elijah Burns 1-(-4), Zack Ryan 3-(-14).
PASSING:Saugus — DeSimone 1-6-10-0-2, Preston 2-7-(-7)-0-2 ; Swampscott — Ryan 21-32-220-3-1, Jack Spear 0-0-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Saugus — Jordan Belluscio 1-10, Shea 1-(-2), Isaiah Rodriguez 1-(-5) ; Swampscott — Burns 6-107, Nakeylen Davis 3-40, Chris Ferragamo 5-39, Bush 3-19, Codispoti 4-19.
