SWAMPSCOTT — After starting the season with a home-opening loss, Swampscott (2-1) gave its fans something to cheer about Friday with a 42-21 victory against Peabody (2-1).
Everything was looking good for Peabody, ahead 14-7 with less than a minute remaining in the first half thanks to a 25-yard touchdown pass from Luke Maglione (84 yards, TD) to Dorlyn Morel (3 receptions, 37 yards).
Then, the Tanners kicked it off to Swampscott, not expecting what would follow.
Nakeylen Davis of the Big Blue took the kickoff 76 yards to the house to tie the game, 14-14, with 31 seconds remaining in the half.
“The kick return from Nakeylen, I have to give him credit because we put in a different return based on what [Peabody] did with its kickoff team. Nakeylen asked if we could go back to the other one,” said second-year Swampscott coach Peter Bush. “Sometimes, you have to listen to the players because they know best.”
The teams went into halftime tied at 14.
Talk about Déjà vu. Swampscott received the ball to start the third quarter and, this time, Gabe Tripp took the kickoff 81 yards to paydirt to give the Big Blue a 21-14 lead.
“I put a lot of this loss on me. I’m in charge of the special teams,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “We allowed two kickoffs for touchdowns – on squib kicks. That’s unacceptable.”
It didn’t get much better for the Tanners as Swampscott continued to rally off 35 unanswered points. The next score was a passing touchdown from John von Barta to Joe Marino for 17 yards.
It was Marino’s second touchdown. His first came from a 27-yard pass in the second quarter on fourth-and-18.
“On the fourth-down play, John stepped up in the pocket and threw a great ball. Joseph has great hands. He’s just another one of those seniors in the group who just steps up at different times,” Bush said. “When you look at the group as a whole, they were lights out.”
The offensive line received credit from Bush, too. That’s because it helped running back Henry Beuttler rush for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
“Our offensive line is – and has to be – the key cog in this thing,” Bush said. “At halftime, the offensive line told Henry to follow them and he did.”
Swampscott went ahead, 42-14, before Peabody found the endzone. A fumble recovery from Dorlyn Morel and a touchdown return made it 42-21.
Bettencourt reassured his guys that it was just one loss.
“I just told the guys, the best part about this is that we only get credited with one loss. We probably deserve three, but we only get one in the loss column,” he said. “I think this program can use a little wake-up call. We knew on film this was a good team. I give them all the credit in the world. They played a great game.”
Swampscott will look to make it three in a row next Friday when it welcomes Melrose to Blocksidge Field at 7 p.m. Peabody aims to bounce back on the road when it travels to Manning Field for a date with Lynn Classical.
