KP Football: Three for the Title

With only the Thanksgiving Day game remaining on the regular
season, King Philip, Mansfield and North Attleboro are all still fighting for
the right to claim the Kelley-Rex Division Championship.  

Mansfield, who will be hosting Foxborough in a non-league contest, currently sits at 3-1 within the division, while North and KP are at 2-1. North Attleboro will travel to Attleboro and King Philip will venture up Route 140 to pay Franklin a visit.

With one — just one — contest left on each team’s slate, there are numerous scenarios that could follow football Thursday morning.

Having already concluded their divisional play, Mansfield (8-2 overall) must just sit and watch what unfolds
between the other two teams.

The Hornets' Turkey Day results mean nothing to the race for the championship — however, what the Warriors and Red Rocketeers do will affect the outcome.

Mansfield has lost twice overall, but only once within the division (to North Attleboro, 18-15). North Attleboro is 8-1 overall, with their lone loss coming to King Philip (19-7), while the Warriors, also 8-1, lost to Mansfield (27-26) in a
squeaker.

“We’ve never won anything in school history. Our main goal is to go out and take care of our business,” KP head coach Brian Lee said.  “We can’t think about it. If we had wanted to go [representing the Kelley-Rex Division of the Hockomock League] then we should have taken care of Mansfield when we had the opportunity.”

Of the three teams, Mansfield’s road to the championship is probably the toughest. In order for the Hornets to grab the title, both North Attleboro and King Philip must lose. Nothing is impossible, especially when playing your rival on Thanksgiving Day, but Mansfield is definitely the team looking in from the outside. 

The scenarios are a little easier with the other two teams. North will
grab the title with a win over Attleboro (8-3 overall and 1-2 in the division)
and a King Philip loss to Franklin (4-6, 1-3). If that happens, the Red
Rocketeers and Mansfield will end up in a tie at 3-1 and North would win the
two-way tie-breaker (head-to-head play).

For King Philip to grab the title, there must be a three-way tie atop the Kelley-Rex with all three teams ending the season at 3-1. If both the Warriors and the Red Rocketeers win on Thursday, the tie-breaker amongst the three teams is the amount of points given up to the other two teams involved. KP and North each surrendered 34, while Mansfield gave up 44. The Hornets would be eliminated and KP and North would then revert to head-to-head play, which the Warriors won.

While a three-way tie looks good in the eyes of Warriors players as well as fans, Lee still has doubts of it happening.

“We need to do our job. The rest is not up to us,” the coach said. “When it comes time to play, Attleboro has the most talent of anyone, it just depends on which team comes to play on Thanksgiving.” 

KP fans are hoping it’s not the Attleboro team that made its appearance at Macktaz Field on Nov. 4, when the Warriors defeated the Bombardiers, 41-7. First at hand is KP taking care of Franklin, and letting the rest of the pieces fall where they may.

Not able to make it to the King Philip-Franklin Thanksgiving football game? Follow all the action with our . Kickoff is Thursday at 10 a.m.