Melrose football team takes a thriller in Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT — It was a good old-fashioned shootout between two strong teams, but only one could deliver a statement win.

After four quarters, this one belonged to Melrose, which came into Swampscott and defeated the Big Blue, 34-27.

“We knew they had good athletes and they are very well-coached,” said Swampscott coach Peter Bush. “We just didn’t make enough plays throughout the game to change the tide.”

Jack Feeney got things started early for Melrose, keeping it himself for a 20-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Swampscott’s Henry Beuttler punched one in from 1 yard out in response, set up by Liam Keaney who delivered with a handful of timely catches Friday night.

After trailing, 14-7, at halftime, Swampscott needed some juice to start the second half and Nakeylen Davis obliged. He exploded for a big kick return to set up another Beuttler score.

The madness continued. Davis came up huge again with a jump-ball touchdown from 17 yards out, but Melrose answered right back with a touchdown of its own.

Then, Nicholas Hitchman came up clutch for Melrose with a huge touchdown catch on the first play of the fourth quarter from 36 yards out. The visitors put the game away with another score – this one from Marco Albanese.

“Coming out of the Peabody week, we were a little banged up. They were coming off a bye week where they had the extra week to get healthy and prepare for us. We came out a little tight,” Bush said. “We kind of let our foot off the gas and gave them some confidence. Any time you have a team that’s hungry and coming off a bye, looking for their first win of the season, that’s a dangerous opponent.”

Now, Swampscott gets a much-needed bye week of its own. The Big Blue return to action Thursday, Oct. 10 at Gloucester with kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m.

“Now, we just have to get healthy. We’ve got a long way to go,” Bush said. “But our kids played their hearts out. We had efforts all over the place, but just couldn’t make enough plays to get off the field on defense and offensively, we were clicking here and there, but just have to be more consistent.”

Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism

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