Peabody— On a night where the cold air and howling wind conditions of Fall were really felt for the first time this season, Bishop Fenwick got the sweet taste of revenge that they had been waiting months for.
The Crusaders led the entire way in their game against Swampscott on Friday, and although it wasn’t the cleanest or most explosive game, it was still a giant victory for Fenwick as they had beaten the team who they had lost to in last year’s state semifinals by a score of 14-0.
There was no doubt that the cold weather and wind conditions played a huge factor in the game schemes for both Swampscott and Fenwick, resulting in a low scoring affair. Swampscott’s plan from the jump was to get the run established in order for quarterback Zack Ryan to complete a number of short out routes and curl routes to his top receiving duo of Chris Ferragamo and Elijah Burns.. That strategy got Swampscott into Fenwick territory on their first drive, but stalled when Fenwick made a huge tackle for loss on third down, forcing Swampscott to punt.
When it was Fenwick’s turn, they came out playing smash mouth football that resulted in an 87 yard touchdown drive. Fenwick showed Swampscott a number of different run packages that included a couple of draws and wildcat formations that wore down Big Blue’s defense. Fenwick’s backfield duo of Troy Irizarry and Anthony Nichols had a series of great runs that got Fenwick to the one yard line when Irizarry took a handoff and punched in the only offensive touchdown of the night on a halfback dive. The Crusader’s are normally a pass heavy team, but the wind conditions Friday night forced Fenwick to pound the rock, which Irizarry didn’t mind at all.
“I love running the ball more, so it benefited me, even though I didn’t have any breakout runs, I still did what I had to do.”
Swampscott punted the ball on their opening possession of the second quarter and Fenwick began another long drive into Big Blue territory. The long drives by the Crusaders not only took a huge chunk of time off of the game clock, but kept Swampscott’s defense on the field, wiping their stamina.
With their defense not getting any stops, Big Blue needed a stop badly, and they got one.
With just under 6 minutes to play in the 2nd, Swampscott was able to force a Fenwick fumble, which not only stopped Fenwick from going up two scores, but gave their defense some much needed rest before halftime as well.
Ryan and the Big Blue offense were able to put together a drive that got them to the Fenwick 30 yard line but an aborted snap created a 4th and 8 situation for Swampscott. They were able to convert, but just a few plays later Ryan was picked off by Anthony Nichols, keeping Fenwicks narrow 7-0 lead into the half. Swampscott’s offense was plagued by mistakes that kept them from going into the half with either a tie or the lead, but nonetheless, they found themselves down by only one score.
Even with Fenwick turning the ball over on the opening kick of the second half, Swampscott still was unable to take advantage of their opportunities. On 4th and goal from Fenwicks 2 yard line, Ryan dropped back to pass and was looking to throw it up to the back of the end zone, but the ball was tipped to the ground, marking it incomplete.
Big Blue’s offense would have one last shot to tie the game after Bishop Fenwick decided to attempt a fake punt pass on 4th down. The Crusaders didn’t convert, giving the ball to Ryan and his offense. The Swampscott quarterback was able to lead his team downfield, all the way to Fenwick’s 20 yard line.
But in fitting fashion, Fenwick was able to get one last stop inside of their own territory. Aidan Breen rushed in towards Ryan on a blitz, putting his arms up and catching the ball and returned an 80 yard interception to the house, all but sealing the win for Fenwick.
“We called a timeout, and the coach said let’s blitz,” said Breen. I jumped up, and I thought I swatted it, but it fell in my hands, and I was gone.”
Fenwick had this game circled on their calendar for a long time, and they made sure they were going to dominate.
“We killed the clock for most of the game and we made it 14-0 by keeping the defense on the sideline,” said Irizarry.
Bishop Fenwick isn’t done with their revenge tour as they take on St. Mary’s next week, a team they lost to 21-19 in overtime last year.
Ryan Vermette can be reached at [email protected]