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NORTON - Over the past three seasons, the Green Wave of Abington High have twice proceeded through their football season unbeaten.

"It's been a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication on the kid's part," said Abington coach Jim Kelliher over the weekend of his South Shore League champions (11-0), who meet Norton High in one of the MIAA Division 3 playoff games this evening (7:45) at Bridgewater-Raynham High School.

And those same sentiments have been echoed by Lancer coach Robb McCoy, whose team (10-1) won the Tri-Valley League championship, has won four straight games and has limited a half-dozen opponents to one touchdown or less.

"We match up well," said McCoy of the Norton-Abington contest. "They're very similar to us - they're not very big, but they have some tough kids."

The Lancers have been fueled by senior running back Sean Ryan, the TVL MVP who has over 2,500 multi-purpose yards and 33 touchdowns; by senior quarterback Brendan St. Germain, who has over 1,000 passing yards and a dozen TD tosses; and by senior runner/receiver/returner Brian Desmond, who has over 1,200 multi-purpose yards. But, most of all the Lancers have taken their cue from the line, senior captain Josh Archer, senior Chris Hamel, the TVL offensive lineman of the year, by senior captain Ricky Travers, also the TVL defensive player of the year.

"As long as we don't turn over the ball," said McCoy of the Lancers nurturing a ball-control attack, while also lengthening the field for Abington. "Then too we have receivers like (tight end Darren) Doucette and (wide receiver Phil) Rizzo, those guys go un-noticed."

Abington takes its cue from senior quarterback Steve Perakslis and junior running back Kristian LaPointe. "The quarterback is a good athlete, a good baseball player, a two-year starter," added Kelliher. "But, we have to grind it out."

However, McCoy sees Abington more of a "big play" team. "They're not a ball-control team, so we have to be aware defensively of what's going on. They have, probably, the best quarterback that we've faced all year."

After beating Hanover (14-6) in the second game of the season, Abington has been on a roll. The Green Wave has limited five foes to one touchdown or less and with the SSL title at stake in weekend No. 10, Abington pinned a 14-6 loss on previously unbeaten Mashpee.

"That's a good league that they play in, Mashpee and Cohasset are good teams," said McCoy, comparing the SSL and TVL. "Both teams have been tested. They do a bunch of different things on offense," said McCoy from his scouting reports. "We've seen the wing-T for the past couple of weeks, so we're pretty well prepared for that."

The Lancers create problems for Abington too, in that six foes have been able to score at least two touchdowns against the Green Wave.

"We have our concerns about Norton," said Kelliher. "Ryan is one tough, physical back -- he makes a lot of plays for them. They have some good receivers, the quarterback throws the ball well and their offensive line is good."

It just might become four 10-minute quarters of who can hold onto the ball the longest, to sustain drives. "That's what I like about our team," said McCoy, "we've been solid offensively and we've gotten the job done defensively."

The Lancers practiced at Taunton High on Sunday and Monday and were at Bridgewater-Raynham on Saturday, to better acclimate themselves to the artificial surface -- upon which they've played once (at Medfield) this season. "It's just another game to these kids, but they know what's at stake, they're focused," said McCoy. "We're going to have to keep the ball, get some drives. Abington is undefeated for a reason -- it's a challenge."