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Swampscott defeats Medfield in Super Bowl

Saturday, December, 01 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

The Swampscott football team refused to take anything for granted in the Division 3 Super Bowl today at Gillette Stadium.

The Big Blue didn’t get too comfortable, even when it opened a two-score lead early in the second quarter against a Medfield team that averaged just over 15 points per game this season.

Swampscott added a second half touchdown and the Big Blue defense smothered the Warriors on their way to a 22-6 victory.

The win provided Swampscott, which finished 12-1, with its first Super Bowl since 1972.

When quarterback Peter Kinchley scored on a 9-yard keeper with 9:08 to play in the first half, the Big Blue took a 15-0 lead. Swampscott, which has been just as solid defensively as it has been offensively all season, felt confident.

Regardless of the early domination, Swampscott kept the defensive pressure on.

“They’re a running team and they like to eat the clock. We knew they weren’t going to score on us that much,” junior running back/linebacker Ilya Levin said. “We were up by two (scores), we knew we were going to win.”

It took Swampscott only five plays to score after fumbling away the game’s opening kickoff. On first-and-10 from the Medfield 49-yard line, Kinchley hit Justin Mitchell in stride on a slant, and Mitchell did the rest of the work, racing past the Medfield secondary for an early lead.

Levin’s rush made it 8-0 only three minutes into the game.

Medfield’s second three-and-out of the game set Swampscott up for another scoring drive, this one a 13-play, 68-yard clock-eater that resulted in Kinchley’s keeper. Matt Barbuzzi’s kick increased Swampscott’s advantage to 15-0.

“We had to keep working as a defense,” Mitchell, a senior wide receiver/linebacker, said. “One big play and they were right back in the game. They were only down two scores. That’s nothing.”

Swampscott’s defense came up huge before halftime.

Medfield went 42 yards on 13 plays before stalling on fourth down at the Swampscott 29-yard line.

Kinchley was then picked off by Harry Bodozian on first down, giving Medfield the ball at the Big Blue 45.

Medfield then moved the ball inside the Swampscott 5-yard line, but Marc Hostovsky was stopped on fourth-and-3 on a 1-yard gain with less than 10 seconds to go before intermission.

“We ran out of time,” Medfield coach Mike Slason said. “If we had punched it in before half, things could have changed.”

The Warriors came up short before halftime and couldn’t move the ball in their first possession after the break.

Swampscott increased its lead to 22-0 when sophomore running back Kyle Shonio crashed in from a yard out with 9:56 to play in the game, capping a 13-play, 66-yard drive.

“The last two drives of the first half, those hurt. It was difficult going into halftime with nothing,” Slason said. “The third score was the game because our offense is so slow.”

Medfield finally broke through when Hostovsky scored on a 1-yard run after a 17-play, 54-yard drive.

Kinchley threw for 102 yards and Levin led the ground game with 76 yards on 11 carries. Shonio added 71 yards on 10 carries.

“This team is so diverse,” said senior receiver Jordan Kelly, who had two catches for 27 yards. “It’s not one person; it’s the whole team. We did it here at Gillette Stadium where the Patriots play. It couldn’t be better.”

Additional stories:

• Swampscott football saves its best for last