Anything but routine

Swampscott, AC have been down path before

Arlington Catholic's Corey Spencer led Division 3 with 24 touchdown passes - two more than the Swampscott quarterback he'll face Tuesday. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

Steve Dembowski knows the importance of experience.

That's why the Swampscott coach showed his players tape from the 1988 Swampscott-Marblehead Thanksgiving matchup - which the Big Blue won - the night before Thursday's 21-13 win over the Magicians. The tape featured Dembowski himself, then a senior linebacker for the Big Blue.

It's also why he's confident his team, now 9-2, will be prepared to face Arlington Catholic in the Division 3 playoffs Tuesday at Arlington High. Dembowski's Swampscott teams have been to the playoffs under the current format four times during his career. Last year, the Big Blue dismantled AC, 33-7, to advance to the Super Bowl, where they beat Medfield, 22-6.

"I started preparing [for AC the night before Thanksgiving]," he said. "The funny thing about the playoffs is with the Thursday then Tuesday then Saturday, it happens real fast, so you have to have a routine. We have our routine ready."

Arlington Catholic (8-3) is coming off wins over Division 1A's Arlington and defensively strong Austin Prep (9-2, 6.0 points allowed per game in 2008). The Cougars will rely on the sure arm of Corey Spencer, who threw 24 touchdown passes to lead Division 3. Appropriately, it was the Big Blue's Chris Cameron who trailed in second with 22 TD strikes from the air.

Given this, the game could turn into something of a shootout, though AC coach Serge Clivio knows that experience will be a key. Last year, his team limited then-Swampscott QB Peter Kinchley to 3-of-11 passing in the first half, but couldn't adjust to the Big Blue's running attack in the second. This year, Clivio said his team needs to be prepared to face any attack.

"I think we learned that we're going to have to adapt, as we took away what they really wanted to do last year, but they were able to adapt and run the ball effectively," he said. "I think we've got to be able to do both, play the run and pass effectively. If we don't, they'll be able to hurt us."

For Abington (11-0), it's a similar situation, only this time with a new face.

For two consecutive years, the Green Wave's seasons ended in the playoffs with losses to Medfield. This year presents a new challenge in the form of Norton, which went 10-1 en route to winning the Tri-Valley League.

The Lancers will send an attack led by Sean Ryan, the top scorer in Division 3 with 33 touchdowns and 200 points. Abington will counter with its own running game, led by Kristian LaPointe, who finished third in points (136), on the strength of 20 touchdowns.

It is a factor that leads Abington coach Jim Kelliher to believe the squads will be fairly close when they meet Tuesday night at Bridgewater-Raynham.

Minimizing miscues, he said, will give one team the edge.

"I think we match up pretty evenly," he said. "I think [it's going to be about] mental mistakes and decisions. Play smart, play heads up, recognize situations. And if you take care of those things, the big things will be taken care of."