Big Blue coach can take a bow for ’07

On Saturday morning (11:30) at Gillette Stadium, the Swampscott football team will take the field for the Division 3 Super Bowl against Medfield in search of the program’s first Super Bowl title in 35 years.It will also mark the third time in the past six seasons that Steve Dembowski will have led his alma mater to the title tilt.With that appearance in Foxborough on Saturday, he also will join a very elite group of coaches.In the 35-year history of the Super Bowls in Massachusetts, only five previous or current coaches have taken North Shore teams to the championship game on three or more occasions.”Every coach and staff works hard all year long to get that experience,” Dembowski, who is completing his ninth year at the helm, said. “And to get to this point is extra special. And to make this game and play in the home of the premier sports franchise in the world, we’re excited about it.”Gloucester’s Terry Silva and Peabody’s Ed Nizwantowski each took their teams to the big dance on five occasions, with Silva winning three times and Nizwantowski twice.St. John’s coach Jim O’Leary has made four appearances in the Super Bowl, with the Eagles’ lone title coming in 1997. Classical’s Bill Wise and Winthrop’s Tony Fucillo each took three teams to the championship game. Wise won twice while Fucillo won last year’s Division 2A game in his swan song.The common thread between all five? They each won at least one title, something Dembowski’s teams have come heartbreakingly close to.In 2002, the Big Blue beat Natick to make the championship game for the first time in five seasons. And on a freezing night at Worcester State, the Big Blue and North Attleboro put on a show. Led by one of the state’s most prolific touchdown passers in Kyle Beatrice, the Big Blue put 40 points on the board. But Garrett VanDette and the Red Rocketeers hung 44 on the Big Blue to take the win.One year later, Swampscott was back at the big dance, this time at Marciano Stadium in Brockton to play Mansfield. Despite hanging tough for three quarters, the Big Blue had no answer for the Hornets, led by current Northeastern quarterback John Sperazza, in a 26-7 loss.Now the Big Blue are back on the big stage and hope to reverse the trend.”We have 19 seniors and they’ve done a great job the whole year,” Dembowski said. “We’ve got a lot of contributions from everybody and that’s allowed us to overcome injuries and lets us stay fresh.”On Thursday, Dembowski was in Foxborough with his captains and school principal and got his first look at the facilities that will be available to his team. And he came away impressed.”We’re going to get to warm up in the bubble (the Dana-Farber Field House) that the Patriots use and will get to use all their facilities,” Dembowski said. “It’s nice how well they’re treating us.”An added bonus is that for those people who can’t make the hour’s drive to Gillette, the game is being televised on Comcast SportsNet New England.”We have a lot of people in our town who might not want to make the trip down there, so it’s nice for them to be able to see the game on television,” Dembowski said.It will be the first time since 1990 that the Super Bowls will be played in Foxborough. Back then, the games were held at Foxboro Stadium. In 1990, Lynn English lost 14-0 to Case in the Division 3 game that day while Peabody beat Tewksbury, 20-14, in Division 1.The Big Blue have been getting ready for the FieldTurf surface at Gillette by practicing at Manning Field, much like they did before Tuesday’s playoff win over Arlington Catholic.”John Kasian has been awesome with us in letting us get over there,” Dembowski said. “It’s a great opportunity to get on the FieldTurf and it helps the players and makes it more familiar to them.”