RallyNorth.net

Fri, Oct 12, 2007 07:00 PM @ Bishop Fenwick

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Swampscott	7	7	0	8	22
Bishop Fenwick	0	0	8	0	8

Swampscott defense takes a stand, stops Fenwick

Friday, October, 12 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

PEABODY | Bishop Fenwick's Bobby Tarr needed only one more yard to surpass 200 yards on the ground for the fourth time in six games this season.

Had he picked up that single yard, the undermanned Crusaders might have shocked Swampscott at Donaldson Field last night.

Facing a 4th-and-1 at the Swampscott 30-yard line with just under three minutes to play, Fenwick turned to Tarr, and the Swampscott defense stuffed the record-setting back. The Big Blue went on to add a late score for a 22-8 victory.

"We got some great penetration and got some guys on the ball," Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski said of the Big Blue's crucial stop. "We were able to hold onto (Tarr), and that's not easy because he's great."

Tarr was a workhorse all night, toting the ball 37 times for 199 yards. Known for his game-breaking runs, Tarr was prevented from ripping off any huge gains by the Swampscott defense, save for the senior's 42-yard TD run in the third quarter.

Swampscott had 10 players within five yards of the line of scrimmage defensively, and its 11th man sat just seven yards back. Nevertheless, Fenwick was willing to run straight ahead with Tarr and junior Dan Kennedy. With six two-way starters on the sidelines, Fenwick needed to keep Swampscott's dangerous offense off the field, and Tarr's north-south running did the trick.

Swampscott had possession in the first half for only four minutes. The Big Blue ran just 14 plays, yet scored twice | first on a 45-yard run by Ilya Levin, and then on an 80-yard sprint from Kyle Shonio | for a 14-0 halftime lead. Fenwick (3-3) had two drives stall inside the red zone and a third that was stopped on Swampscott's 21-yard line when time expired.

"We played a (good) football game tonight," Fenwick coach David Woods said, showing his pleasure in the team's performance despite the loss. "We grinded it up a little bit and ate up some of the clock.

"We're kind of limited with what we can run, just because of the people that are out, so we had to get a little creative. Our game plan was to try to eat up as much of the clock as we could and get positive yards on every play."

Fenwick's defense couldn't stop the Swampscott (5-1) offense in the first half, but forced a punt, intercepted backup quarterback Chris Cameron's only pass attempt, and stuffed the Big Blue on a fourth down on consecutive drives in the second half.

The only points Fenwick could muster came when Tarr bounced outside on 3rd-and-7 and sprinted down the left sideline. John Baker connected with Dale Crispan for the two-point conversion for 14-8.

The Crusaders' final drive was 10 plays and went for 35 yards. They seemed to be eating up the clock and moving the ball at just the right pace before Swampscott stood up Tarr.

Shonio added his second touchdown run for Swampscott with just 16 seconds left, and contributed the two-point conversion to account for the final score.

Dembowski felt fortunate that his defense made a stand when he needed it most.

"Tarr is everything that's he's advertised," Dembowski said. "Hopefully we don't see any more Bobby Tarrs the rest of the way. He's a tough back."