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Sports

Big Blue Football Coaches Greet 75 Hopefuls at Opening Practice

Head coach Steve Dembowski and the Big Blue football team met the media Wednesday and must get ready for a scrimmage against Methuen next Tuesday.

The Swampscott High School and coaching staff took to the field Monday for the first practice of the season. More of the same Tuesday, but Wednesday was a chance for the coaches and the team to meet the media and have their pictures taken at Blocksidge Field.

Steve Dembowski is entering his 13th season at the helm of the Big Blue, with over 20 years in the program as a player and assistant coach under Bill Bush.

“It’s always exciting to get going, to begin a new season,” Dembowski said from his office on Humphrey Street. “You take a few weeks off in early December to catch up on some sleep and decompress a bit, but after that, it’s right back to the business of football.”

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Dembowski has 11 coaches on his staff for 2011, last year’s team finished 8-3 overall, a nice mark, but finishing 3-2 in their division kept Swampscott out of the post-season. A sore spot from 2010, a loss at home to a winless (0-7) Winthrop club.

“That was a tough one, the guys didn’t take Winthrop seriously and it cost us,” Dembowski said. “That’s why, especially in our league, you can’t take anyone for granted at any time.”

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The season ended with a nice win over Marblehead, but then Swampscott fans had to watch league foe Beverly, who upended the Blue late last season at Hurd Stadium, win the Super Bowl.

This year’s captains are A. J. Baker, Mike Walsh, Zach Kalapinski, Sam Gold and Richard Sullivan.

Walsh returns as starting quarterback, the first time Swampscott has had a two-year starter under center since John Cassidy in 2005-2006.

“We’re confident in Mike, and we have a good back-up quarterback in Brain Santry,” Dembowski said.

Swampscott, a member of the Northeastern Conference, will be meeting teams from the Cape Ann League after a recent league merger. Swampscott has one CAL team on the schedule for 2011, a match against Triton Regional High School at home in November.

The Big Blue open up the regular season against the Somerville Highlanders at home at noon on September 10, a non-league game. The first game within their division is against Salem under the lights at Bertram Field on October 21.

The game against the Witches is the first of five straight against division foes, culminating with a Thanksgiving Day clash against Marblehead at Piper Field.

"We haven't played Salem in a while, they'll be tough, Beverly's strong, and of course there's Gloucester ahead, and Marblehead to finish, it's tough week in and week out for us," Dembowski said.

Dembowski said he's got some talent returning to the field in 2011.

“We’ve got some strength on the offensive line, and some experience there as well,” Dembowski said.

Coach Bobby Serino’s O Line is affectionately known as “The Cattle,” while the defensive line is known as “The Trench Dogs.”

“We’re a little inexperienced at running back, but we’ve got a lot of good kids coming out, so the competition's good for them and it’s good for us too,” Dembowski said.

In addition to his captains, Dembowski expects big things in 2011 from Mark Lausier at offensive tackle and defensive end, Michael Wynne at offensive guard and defensive tackle and Nick Mennino at wide receiver and defensive back.

“We want to win and compete every week, especially the last five weeks of the season, those are games we have to have,” Dembowski said.

The Big Blue will scrimmage Foxboro at home on September 3, at 10:30 a.m.

Check out www.swampscottfootball.com, for all things Big Blue football, including schedules, the team of the decade list and information on this year’s team.

Before the Somerville game on September 10, the roadway between the tennis courts and the Bertram House will be named , in honor of the coach Stan Bondelevitch. “Bondy” led the Big Blue to eight undefeated seasons and won the first high school Super Bowl in 1972.

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