MARBLEHEAD – When things are at their worst, there is usually a light at the end of the tunnel.For the Marblehead football team and head coach Doug Chernovetz, their emergence into the light came last Saturday at Beverly’s Hurd Stadium.After a turmoil filled off season that saw the Magici ans head coach suspended for the first four games of this season for violating the MIAA’s rule governing the use of tobacco products around students, Chernovetz’s team came to Beverly with a 4-3 record and in position to help assure the program’s first winning season since 1992.After sprinting out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, the Magicians watched as that lead shrank to 33-30 with a little over three minutes to go. But using a confidence that the program hasn’t possessed in recent times, Marblehead ran out the clock and pulled the upset.”In years past, Marblehead would have lost that game,” Chernovetz said. “We’d see the lead dwindle down and maybe last year, or two years ago, we don’t win the game. But because of the change in the belief in themselves, they were able to finish.”That ability to finish grew out of the turmoil’s of the spring, where the team was fighting to keep its head coach. In fact, many of the players came to Chernovetz’s defense during that ordeal. And, according, the Magicians head man that went a long way towards building a team.”We don’t talk about what happened in the off season. What happened is in the past,” Chernovetz said. “But for the 50 kids that come out to practice for me every day to go through what they did and to support me tells a lot about the character of the kids. They knew they were doing the right thing. It’s what they believed in and what they wanted to do.”The last time the Magicians finished with a winning record, many of their players were learning how to walk or in some cases, weren’t born yet. And yet, this group of 50 has found a way to get the job done in challenging situations.”We’ve been waiting for the light to go on for four years,” Chernovetz said. “We knew that we had the potential and we’ve worked hard to get where we are.”Another reason for the Magicians success this season is the maturation of its skill position players.Quarterback Hayes Richardson went through his growing pains last season, but has stepped up this year to help bring the team to the top of the NEC South standings.”He is a leader and the epitome of a quarterback. He has the attitude, confidence and poise to get it down and he makes great decisions,” Chernovetz said.Nick Haller and Brandon Lee have given the Magicians a bonafied ground attack while Taariq Allen’s big play ability at wide receiver has also sparked the offense.”We have some good athletes and we knew this would be a good group,” Chernovetz said.On the other side of the ball, the Magician defense also has stepped up to the forefront. That unit posted a shutout against Danvers and has held four other opponents (Ipswich, Chelsea, Salem, Revere) to 15 points or less.A big reason for that success is the play of defensive end Sam Perlow. Perlow, a senior and Item All-Star last season, has made several big plays this season. None bigger than his sack of Revere’s Mike Duffy late in the fourth quarter of the Magicians 20-14 win.”Sam has been good for the last three years. That’s why schools are interested in him. He can play the game,” Chernovetz said.Through all that, however, the Magicians had been waiting to put together a complete performance. And last Saturday, their maturation and togetherness finally gelled into a 44-minute effort.”Last Saturday, it finally showed,” Chernovetz said. “There were times before when we had started to see it but we didn’t put four quarters together. Now we’re going into games knowing that we have the attitude to win and that’s great to see.”The job doesn’t get any easier for Marblehead this week when it hosts Winthrop on senior night. They follow that with a date at Saugus and then the 100th Thanksgiving Day tilt with Swa