SWAMPSCOTT - It may be a little early to be talking about "statement games," but in yesterday's 2009 opener the Gloucester High School football team certainly began to answer some of the preseason questions surrounding them.

With a dominant 27-0 victory over rival Northeastern Conference power Swampscott (0-1) at Blocksidge Field, the Fishermen seemed to click perfectly in every facet of the game. The outcome was a bit surprising, considering Gloucester (1-0) graduated many key contributors from last year's team, including its quarterback, its leading rusher, four starters on the offensive line, its leading receiver, and three-fourths of the secondary.

Throw in the fact that the win came against the second-most successful team in the NEC (behind Gloucester) recently, and you could argue that this was indeed a significant statement by the Fishermen.

"Swampscott is a great team with a great reputation," said junior Chris Unis. "To come out and shut them out and put up a good number offensively is big for us."

But we still have 10 games to figure out just how good Gloucester is, and equally as important, just how good Swampscott is.

"I'm happy, I'm very happy," said Gloucester head coach Paul Ingram, whose team will be looking to get to the postseason for the third straight year this fall. "But at the same time, Swampscott starts off seasons slow with that offense, but they'll come along and do very well. They know what they're doing."

Some of the performance was expected, such as a fantastic showing by the Gloucester rushing attack, which chewed up a routine 260 yards on the ground behind 103 yards and two touchdowns from senior Conor Ressel. But Ingram certainly had to feel comfortable with how his Fishermen responded in the areas that were more of a concern.

Air Gloucester

The Big Blue is the team known for the great passing game with their spread offense. But it was the Fishermen who displayed the potent air attack yesterday.

Ingram had said in the preseason that he expected to throw the ball more this fall. But it remained to be seen exactly how serious that comment would be for an offense built on one of the strongest running games in the state.

Turns out, at least for now, Ingram was serious. Senior captain and quarterback Brett Cahill finished 6 of 11 for 74 yards and a TD pass. It doesn't seem like a ton of passes, but it was six more attempts than Gloucester averaged per game last year.

Cahill, a burly 5-foot-10 QB who throws with great touch, heated up as the game went on. He completed four of his final six attempts, which was true to Ingram's passing philosophy of: "If we complete them, we'll throw them."

"Brett played well, he made some really good passes," said Ingram. "With quarterbacking it's all about completing passes. When you do, you get confidence."

Unis, who is a returner at tight end, emerged as the go-to target with three catches for 49 yards and a TD.

"The passing game was very smooth," said Unis. "Hopefully it continues and we'll be able to get a lot of yards that way."

Secondary passes big test

There is no better way to test an inexperienced secondary than with a game against Swampscott.

Gloucester's unit passed that test easily. The evidence was in the stat line of Big Blue quarterback Matt Barbuzzi, who was held to just 8 of 18 for 54 yards.

The front seven did its job also, as Swampscott totaled just 182 total yards and was held scoreless, which doesn't happen to the Big Blue very often. But the concern coming in was how the secondary would react against a team that burned Gloucester for over 250 yards passing last year in a Big Blue victory.

Led by the hard-hitting Ressel (the lone veteran of the group), the last line of defense stepped up huge.

"We gave Swampscott a different package than we've done in the past," said Ingram. "We played some 4-3 and some 3-4, which is very different."

Offensive line is just fine

Four new starters and it still looks the same.

Gloucester, like it usually does, won the battle in the trenches on offense. Cahill was untouched in the pocket, and the line helped Gloucester dominate time of possession, blocking for 5-yard gain after 5-yard gain.

Gloucester's longest run was 19 yards, which demonstrates the conditioning and consistency of the line.

"The line did a great job and they're mainly new," said Ingram. "I think our offseason conditioning program really paid off. All the running in the summer is what kept us together."