PWN101421

OCTOBER 14, 2021
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 9
Sports
FILE PHOTO
Steven Woods threw four touchdowns passes for Bishop
Fenwick in a win over Cardinal Spellman Friday.
Bishop Fenwick
bounces back with
win over Spellman
PHOTO | SPENSER HASAK
Peabody’s Michael Perez, left, sheds a tackle from Swampscott’s Harry Riddell during a game
at Coley Lee Field at Friday night.
Swampscott grabs late
score to slip past Peabody
FOOTBALL
By Sam Minton
PEABODY — It isn’t how
you start but how you finish,
and the Swampscott football
team was able to hang on for
a 28-21 victory over Peabody
in a Northeastern Conference
bout at Coley Lee Field Friday
night.
With more than 100 yards
rushing, senior Xaviah Bascon
led the Big Blue in rushing and
also to victory.
Head coach Bob Serino said
that his running back “knows
how it is” and believes he can’t
do it by himself.
“He complements his line
and our line after the first drive
said ‘run the ball,’” said Serino.
“(Bascon) is a good running
back but he compliments his
line every game.”
The Tanners got on the
scoreboard quickly, driving 63
yards in just over five minutes.
Sophomore Alexander Silva
broke off a 35-yard run before
senior Shea Lynch threw a
five-yard touchdown to senior
Michael Perez to give Peabody
a 7-0 lead with 9:22 left in the
first quarter.
Peabody’s defense started the
game on a positive note as well,
forcing a Big Blue three and out
and regaining possession with
7:35 left in the opening quarter.
Swampscott bounced back,
stopping Peabody at its own 37.
Bascon returned the punt back
to Peabody’s 36 and the Big
Blue made quick work of the
Tanners defense with quarterback
Cameron O’Brien seeing
a hole and rushing 38 yards to
make it 7-7 with three minutes
left in the first quarter.
The Big Blue showed their
dominance once more after
stopping Peabody, driving 66
yards down the field in a drive
that lasted nearly 10 minutes.
Staring at their own 34-yard
line, they found the end zone
with some trickery as junior
Chris Ferragamo took a reverse
10 yards to the end zone to give
Swampscott a 14-7 lead with
five minutes left in the second
quarter.
Peabody responded with a
four-minute, 66-yard drive that
concluded with Colin Ridley
taking a pass from Lynch 27
yards to the end zone and once
again tying the game at 14-14
with 1:14 left in the half.
It seemed that the scoring
was done for the half, but the
Big Blue drove 40 yards in less
than a minute and junior Elijah
Burns fought his way to the
end zone after catching a laser
from the arm of O’Brien to
give Swampscott a 21-14 lead
entering halftime.
After stopping Swampscott
from getting another touchdown
to start the third quarter,
Peabody started its first drive of
the half from its own 41 with
9:16 left in the third. It took
four minutes for the Tanners to
drive down the field as Lynch
connected with Danny Barrett
in the air for a 20-yard touchdown
to tie the game up at
21-21 with just over five minutes
left in the quarter.
Thanks to a combination
of mental mistakes from
Swampscott and some quality
defending, Peabody forced the
Big Blue offense to return to the
sidelines empty-handed once
more. The Tanners regained
possession with just over a
minute left in the third quarter
looking to gain a late lead over
Swampscott, but they couldn’t
take advantage and were forced
to punt with just under 10 minutes
left in the game.
Serino told his players at the
beginning of the year that the
only team that could beat the
Big Blue was themselves.
“Tonight, we almost beat ourselves
with penalties,” he said.
“We have a lot of work to do
and sometimes they are physical
mistakes, sometimes they
are stupid mistakes. We can’t
have that many penalties.”
The X-factor for the Big Blue
came through when needed
most, with Bascon receiving
a heavy dose of carries and
punching it home from two
yards out to give Swampscott a
28-21 lead with 4:22 left in the
game.
The Big Blue’s defense answered
the bell on Peabody’s
final drive of the night, securing
a sack with 1:27 left in
the game to force a turnover on
downs and clinch the victory.
Now 1-4, The Tanners head
to Winthrop next Friday (7).
The Big Blue, on the other
hand, are 5-0 and return home
to Blocksidge Field to face
Danvers Friday (7).
FOOTBALL
By Mike Alongi
The Bishop Fenwick football
team bounced back from
last week’s loss with a big win
Friday, taking down Catholic
Central League opponent
Cardinal Spellman by a score of
31-0 on the road.
Quarterback Steven Woods
completed 17-of-23 passes for
162 yards and four touchdowns
By Sam Minton
PEABODY ― With the high
school hockey season just around
the corner, the commonwealth is
struggling to find referees.
Massachusetts Hockey
President Bob Joyce recently sent
out a statement explaining that the
state is currently dealing with a
severe referee shortage. The organization
has lost 900 referees since
the beginning of the COVID-19
pandemic.
“The referee pool is dwindling,
and we need to take steps
in a positive manner to reverse
this,” said Joyce. “ Our officials
are everyday people just like our
parents, who have real jobs but try
to work a side job to help our kids
play a game, earn a little extra income,
and give back to the game.
It would appear that many people,
for whatever reason, have lost this
understanding and somehow believe
that our officials need to be at
the same level as what they see on
TV at the college or NHL level.”
The main culprit of the dropoff
is abuse from parents, coaches,
and players. Since the start of
the youth season, the organization
has already had to deal with
some serious situations, such as a
young female referee quitting in
the middle of a set of games due
to parent harassment and a referee
needing a police escort after an 8U
game.
in the win for Fenwick, with
receiver Jason Romans (eight
receptions for 85 yards and two
touchdowns) catching two of
them. Costa Beechin and Chris
Faraca each had a touchdown
reception, while Aidan Silva
kicked a field goal. Running
back Troy Irizarry led the team
on the ground with 10 carries
for 86 yards.
Fenwick (4-1) hosts
Archbishop Williams Friday
(7).
Massachusetts hockey
suffering from ref shortage
The organization reiterated that
itself along with USA Hockey has
a zero-tolerance policy for abuse
of officials. Coaches and players
can be suspended and parents can
be banned from attending future
games.
“Again, we ask you to practice
patience and good judgement,”
said Mass Hockey. “The children
are all watching us and following
our example. We all need to make
a better effort to respect the officials
and keep them working.”
Tyler Conrad, a Peabody resident,
has officiated youth hockey
games in the North Shore and
around Massachusetts for four
years. While he admitted that
some parents, coaches, and
players can mouth off, in his experience
he has had mostly positive
encounters.
“Ninety-nine percent of the
time when you give someone respect
you get it back,” he said.
Conrad likes to get himself in
a good mood before games and
introduce himself to parents and
coaches in order to build more
of a familiar relationship with the
group to try and prevent instances
of abuse.
“I skate hard, I’m respectful
to everybody, I have a good time
with the kids and then usually they
work with me,” he said.
If you are interested in becoming
an official, visit https://
www.mahockey.org/maofficials.