Swampscott wins back-to-back division 5 Super Bowls
SWAMPSCOTT, Mass. — The Swampscott High School football powerhouse captivated another stellar season this year, bringing home a division 5 Super Bowl Championship. They ended the season at a totality of 14-1.
Coach Bob Serino led a group of guys to back-to-back championships with a stellar and hard-fought performance to defeat North Reading’s program.
It wasn’t an easy battle for the Big Blue as they turned over the ball a couple of times, but thanks to Swampscott’s defense the whole game, North Reading was only able to get into the end zone one time, which is very impressive and says a lot about the Big Blue’s resilience.
Junior defensive back Jason Codispoti was all over the field in the championship game, picking off North Reading twice and catching three receptions for 49 yards to add on to his stellar performance, giving his team a fighting chance to ultimately win the championship.
“We knew that this team (North Reading) was going to be very good,” Swampscott junior Jason Codispoti said. “We knew that going in and (defensive coordinator) Coach (Peter) Bush put in a great plan, (and) we had a great week of practice.”
It doesn’t matter who is in front of you at that given time, it takes resiliency, passion and determination to want to succeed on the gridiron. Swampscott’s defense showed that the entire season thanks to defensive coordinator Peter Bush.
“From day one, these guys accepted the challenge to trying to shut down the other team’s offenses,” Bush said. “They’ve done it all year. It’s nothing new to us.”
It was a very slow start for Swampscott’s offense but the defense stepped up when they needed to and got the job done. Two interceptions and a fumble recovery to essentially wrap the game up says a lot about how this ultimate matchup went.
Even though it was a slow start to getting into the end zone, senior running back Xaviah Bascon ended up with 55 yards on only six carries in the first half alone. He ended the game with 143 yards on 20 handoffs to help his teammates gain another division 5 Super Bowl Championship, making that two for Bascon as he won one with the 2019 team as well.
Not only did Bascon dominate on the ground but he also made the game-winning play by throwing a halfback option pass to his teammate Hamernick for a 38-yard touchdown in the second half to give the Big Blue a 14-0 lead on North Reading.
“We’ve been practicing that since we played Danvers,” Bascon said. “It was a huge play. The coaches got my arm right through the season when Cam (O’Brien) had to sit out a game and there was a question if I had to play quarterback that week so the arm’s been ready. They called the play and it was great execution.”
Bascon accomplished a lot this season by breaking the single season rushing yards with over 1,500+ yards on 210 carries. He also broke the pilon 21 times this season which is very impressive and shows how great this young man’s vision on the field is.
“It feels amazing to be Super Bowl Champions with the kids I’ve been playing with since I was 12 years old,” Bascon said, who played sparingly in the 2019 Super Bowl win at Gillette. “We wanted to show the older guys from two years that we could be just as good as them, and we’ve did it.”
Bascon is considered to be one of Swampscott’s key players in this game but also for the entire season. The way he gets in and out of his cuts and how patient he is to wait for a while to open up is next level talent. With having breakout speed in the open field and great hands catching the ball, there is no doubt we will be seeing Bascon play on Saturdays this upcoming year.
“You watch X on some of those runs and he makes the whole entire defense miss,” senior lineman Jake Papazoglou said.
All season long, the Big Blue played with a type of fire that couldn’t be taken away. They played every down, every second and every game like it was their last.
From the offseason morning runs all the way to the weight room and onto the field to get some work in, they never stopped grinding, which ultimately breeds a winning attitude and a winning program.
Being physical all year dates back to those hard summer mornings and the late-night film, trying to get their edge on the opponent.
It all paid off and it wasn’t an easy task, but with a head coach like Serino, young players in his program will always represent the best versions of themselves. That showed as he led his team to another winning season.
“These kids played physically the entire season,” Serino said. “This is a credit to all the work they put in from August until now. I’m really proud of them. People were saying in the middle of the season that we hadn’t played anybody, but we knew once we got in the playoffs we’d show what we were made of.”
Congratulations to the Swampscott football program for winning yet another Super Bowl for the Northeastern Conference.
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