Since the modern-day high school football postseason format began in 1972, only four teams in our immediate area (out of 17) have never been to either a playoff game or a Super Bowl: Revere, Lynn Tech, Marblehead and Saugus.Could this be the year that two of those four schools join the club?So far, Marblehead and Lynn Tech are 2-0 – and both have looked very good along the way. The Magicians, who got back into the win column in 2008 for the first time since the early ’90s, dispatched both Pentucket and Ipswich in Weeks 1 and 2. They’ll get a big test thrown at them this weekend when they make the trek to Manning Field (Friday) to play Classical.The Magicians don’t necessarily have to win (it’s a non-league game), but we might learn a lot about them based on how well they hang in against a Rams team that would appear to be on a faster track than a lot of us – including yours truly – would have figured a few months ago.There won’t be a lot of easy games for the Magicians, because their league – the Northeastern Conference/South – would be appear to be stronger, from top to bottom, than its NEC/North counterpart. Going into the season, Beverly seemed to be the consensus favorite, and the Panthers’ dismantling of Melrose last week didn’t do anything to change anyone’s mind.Winthrop and Swampscott should be strong; Saugus opened with a nice win over Bishop Fenwick; and – of course – Danvers opened with two straight wins.As for Tech, the Tigers always seem to be in the thick of the race in the Commonwealth Conference/Large division, but there always seem to be one or two games every season that trip them up. Thus far, though, the Tigers look strong. They put up a good defensive stand to beat Dorchester and then put up 36 points in beating Marian last Saturday.It’s Year Two of the Matt Durgin era at St. Mary’s and, so far, the Spartans are doing exactly what Classical did the year after he began coaching there – winning. Durgin might be the most successful coach never to make the postseason, but that’s because when he had his best teams with Classical, he was always going up against Gloucester powerhouses.Two years ago, Classical could probably have defeated half the teams that made it down to Foxborough for that Super Bowl, but the Rams couldn’t hang on against a Gloucester team that was stacked from head to toe with studs.This year, the Spartans have a whole bunch of speedy backs on offense, and they’ve gone through two games without giving up a point. But we’ll know more about them by the end of October, when, in back-to-back weeks (with both games taking place on Saturdays), they’ll be home against Arlington Catholic and Austin Prep.The AC Cougars are last year’s defending Division 3 champs, and they seem to be just as strong this year. Austin Prep is always Austin Prep. So talk to me after Oct. 24 about the Spartans. My guess is that they’ll be major players in this thing before the year’s out.It’s been a long time since I’ve been as agitated over a Red Sox game as I was Monday night ? and that probably wouldn’t seem too difficult for anyone to understand.But would you believe Peabody’s Scott Wlasuk saves his heartburn for the University of Southern California Trojans?That’s right. And suffice it to say, Coach Wlasuk was not a happy camper after USC’s untimely – and rather pathetic – loss to Washington Saturday night.Steve Krause is sports editor of The Item.