The Swampscott-Marblehead Thanksgiving football rivalry isn’t only one of the oldest in the state, but in the last two years it’s had some precious new life breathed into it.For the second year in a row, all eyes will be on the game, because – just like last year – the game will determine the winner of the Northeastern Conference/South ? regardless of what happens this weekend.In a strange case of déjà vu, the exact same scenario as 2008 is being played again. Both Swampscott and Marblehead are undefeated in league play – 2-0 – and both can lose this weekend without having their Thanksgiving destinies deterred.Of course, that doesn’t mean either team is treating this weekend’s action any differently. Swampscott’s Steve Dembowski would dearly love to see his team win its final home game of the season when the Big Blue play Beverly Saturday. And Marblehead’s Jim Rudloff would like nothing better than to go to Miller Field Friday night and beat Winthrop.”It’s really important for us to win that game,” said Dembowski. “It’s our seniors’ last home game. Beverly beat us last year, and they have a very good group of players.”Rudloff doesn’t want to see his team fall into a trap game either.”They (Winthrop) have to win these last two games in order to have a winning season,” he said, “so you know they’re going to be ready for us. They don’t have losing seasons over there. It’s such a good program, and that’s why.”Neither coach expected to be in a position to be playing for a league title when the summer started. Rudloff said he and his staff were assuming they’d have Taariq Allen back for his senior season, giving them an experienced running back to complement quarterback Hayes Richardson. Then, Allen chose to go elsewhere, leaving Rudloff, a rookie head coach himself, with a severe shortage of experienced players.”We had no returning running back,” he said. “Not a single running back who’d touched the ball on our team. The four wide receivers who are playing now didn’t start one game last year. We didn’t know what we were going to have.”On defense, we had three starting linebackers and that was it. Now, put that together with a new coaching staff, new terminology, a new playbook ? there’s no way we could have dreamed we’d be contending for a title.”But the Magicians had quarterback Hayes Richardson and linebackers Evan Comeau and Matt Evans to form a nucleus of players who remember the bitter way last year’s season ended – a lopsided loss to Saugus in Week 10 and a heartbreaking defeat to the Big Blue on Thanksgiving.”The kids felt that for all they accomplished last season (a 6-5 record), they didn’t get the respect they felt they’d earned,” Rudloff said. “I think a lot of people figured that was it. Marblehead had one good year ? the seniors who helped them get it were gone ? and they’d go back to being Marblehead again.”On the other end of Humphrey Street, Swampscott was faced with a similar paucity in experience.”Just to be in contention at this point is exciting for both our players and our coaches ? and our fans, too,” Dembowski said. “We returned three starters on offense, and two on defense – and those two changed positions. For us to be where we are is a tribute to our seniors.”Not so fast, Rudloff says.”I think Steve, right now, is the best coach in our league,” he said. “And he has a terrific staff. They really know what they’re doing over there, and they get everything they can out of those kids.”The thing that makes Steve so difficult to play is that he can beat you with what you give him. If you try and defend the pass, he’ll run on you. If you play the run, he’ll pass on you.”One school is trying to build a tradition ? and one already has one.”The key for us is to keep it going,” Rudloff says. “It’s nice to be in this position, but you don’t want to only be in it for one year and then go right back to the way you were before.”We want to build a program here,” he said. “Towns like Winthrop, Swampscott, Gloucester ? they