RallyNorth.net

Thu, Sep 20, 2007 07:00 PM @ Lynn English

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Swampscott	7	7	0	7	21
Lynn English	7	13	0	0	20

Swampscott High football edges Lynn English

Thursday, September, 20 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

LYNN | Scoring on the first possession of the second half wasn't necessarily the goal for the Swampscott football team last night.

Even though the Big Blue, known for their proficient spread offense, was trailing by a score, Swampscott was simply hoping to gain a territorial edge and wear down Lynn English at Manning Field.

A 10-play, 52-yard drive to start the second half was enough to get momentum on Swampscott's side even though it stalled on the Bulldogs' 15-yard line. The Big Blue then kept the pressure on until English broke. Senior quarterback Peter Kinchley crashed in from two yards out and Matt Barbuzzi contributed the winning PAT in a 21-20 victory.

English didn't advance the ball past its 18-yard line in three second half possessions before Swampscott's game-winning score.

"We were just fortunate enough to get some (field position) and keep it in their end for the rest of the game," Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said. "That was probably the key. It was just whoever was going to score next was probably going to win."

Dembowski was not pleased with Swampscott's first half play. The Big Blue moved the ball constantly, but drives either stalled or resulted in turnovers. Two fumbles and an interception on three successive possessions led to a pair of English scores, which put the Dembowski's crew in a two-touchdown hole.

"Turnovers killed us early on, and during halftime we tried to tighten things up for the second half," Kinchley said. "Special teams and offense made the defense's job a lot easier, giving (Lynn English) a longer field to work with in the second half."

Like a basketball team working the clock for one precious shot, it seemed Swampscott was simply biding its time before punching in the winning touchdown.

After pushing the Bulldogs back to the 8-yard line on two straight plays, English elected to execute the quick kick on third down. Swampscott took over at the 39-yard line, but still needed to convert a fourth down to keep the drive alive.

On 4th-and-5 at the 34, Kinchley connected with Stephen Moran on a curl route for six yards. Six plays later, Kinchley faked a handoff to Kyle Shonio, put his head down and crashed through the left side of the line.

"I still feel like we outplayed them for most of the game," Lynn English (1-2) coach Gary Molea said. "I'm not disappointed in the effort my kids gave against, I think, one of the top teams in our league. They were bigger than us, I think we were a little quicker, but they turned the ball over a couple times and we couldn't take advantage. We turned it over and they took advantage."

Turnovers may have been a factor in the scoring, but the deciding factor was Swampscott's ability to keep the English defense on the field.

English only had 12 second half plays, compared to Swampscott's 38.

"They had been on the field a lot in the second half," Molea said about his defense. "Offensively, we didn't do a good enough job in the second half to win the football game. There was no consistency. Against teams like that, your best defense is a good offense, keeping them off the field."

Kinchley turned in an excellent game under center, completing 17-of-30 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Senior receiver Justin Mitchell caught three balls for 116 yards, including a 61-yard first-half touchdown. Kinchley also hooked up with Moran for a 26-yard score before intermission. Shonio ran for 71 yards for Swampscott, while Trevor Wheeler caught six passes for 71 yards.

"We're still working on our communication system and we had some miscommunications. We ran some plays we didn't want to run. English made plays tonight too. We turned the ball over three times, and that nearly cost us the game. We gave them a short field and they scored two touchdowns," Dembowski said.

"We'll take the win and run home."