NORTH ATTLEBORO — With the huge matchup with Mansfield still a week away, the North Attleboro High football team still has some business to attend to against a tough Stoughton squad tonight.

The Black Knights enter the game with a 5-2 overall record and a 2-2 mark. They have victories over Attleboro, Oliver Ames and Taunton with their defeats coming in consecutive weeks to Mansfield (38-12) and Foxboro (35-7).

"We are not looking ahead," said North Attleboro head coach Kurt Kummer. "Stoughton is a good football team. They played both Mansfield and Foxboro tough. The final score does not always tell the true story of a game. They were in both games and played both teams tough. It is tough for anyone to beat Mansfield and Foxboro."

Stoughton possesses what Kummer and Foxboro head coach Jack Martinelli characterize as the best running back tandem in the league in senior Chris Russell and junior Joe Jeudy. Senior Colby Gallagher is also an important part of the Stoughton offense at fullback.

"They are big up front and they have three good backs," added Kummer. "Their backs are fast and run hard. They can score on offense, but have had a lot more success running the ball this year than passing it. They are more of a running team." As always, Stoughton is a physical group, especially on defense. Senior captains Mudo Ohimor and Brenden Taylor have been standouts on the defensive line for the Black Knights with Ohimor also starring at tight end.

"They run to the football well on defense," said Kummer, whose team is 6-0 overall and in first place in the league at 5-0. "All those running backs also play on defense. They are very athletic and fast and their kids up front are big. We will have a good team in front of us on Friday night and we have to take care of business before we can even think about Mansfield."

The speed of the Rocketeers is what concerns Stoughton the most, according to 15-year head coach Greg Burke.

"North Attleboro will be a big challenge for us," said Burke, whose team was 7-3 a year ago. "They are a very good team. They are very quick and very well-coached. They are very quick off the ball on offense and defense. We don't see a real weakness with North Attleboro. All teams have a weakness, but we really don't see one with them. You have to have everything clicking on all cylinders to beat them."

"This is a big game for our program and is a big game for them as well. We think we can do a few things against them. We have a few things they may have trouble with, but we have to hold onto the ball and keep it out of the hands of their offense. We won't have a chance at all in this game, if we can't control the ball. We have done a good job running the ball this year. We just have to continue to improve our passing and pass defense."

Following the Mansfield-North Attleboro showdown next week, the playoff picture in Division 2 should really begin to come into focus. In the postseason, the winner of the Hockomock League will play the champion from the Eastern Athletic Conference, which will most likely be Bishop Stang after the Spartans win over Bishop Feehan last week.

With a three-game lead, Natick has a stranglehold on the Bay State Conference's Herget Division. Natick would play the victor of the Middlesex League, which will come down to the Woburn-Burlington meeting on Nov. 11.

Mansfield at King Philip

Hornet coach Mike Redding was a little concerned about his team looking ahead to North Attleboro earlier in the week, but not any more.

"With high school players, it is a natural thing to look ahead," said Redding. "We could look past a good team to anticipate a great team. We were concerned and talked about it as coaches, but we made it loud and clear to the players on Tuesday that we would not accept that kind of thinking." Redding also knows he is facing a Warrior team that has won three of their last four games and played well against North Attleboro in the other contest.

The Mansfield head coach has also been impressed with the recent productivity of senior quarterback Kyle Harwood and senior tailback Doug Dyke for King Philip, which is 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the league.

"It is a very much improved King Philip team," said Redding, whose team is 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the league. "They are very physical up front. Howarth has been throwing the ball very well and Dyke has been running the ball well. They run a multi-dimensional offense and have been doing a few different things. On defense, they are committed to stopping the run. They are physical up front and their linebackers are tough. But they are susceptible to the passing game, so we are hoping to throw enough to make them less aggressive up front."

Sharon at Foxboro

Something that has plagued the Warriors this year has been their first-half performances. They have struggled during the first half of a lot of their games this fall, only to come back strong in the second half.

"That is the personality of the team," said Foxboro head coach Jack Martinelli. "Every game we have played this year has been that way. We have played a good second half against everyone. We have definitely been a second-half football team. Every group has a M.O. and our particular one this year is that we play better in the second half."

"No team in the league has had to play a more physical stretch this year than we have," said Martinelli of games with Central Catholic, Oliver Ames, Stoughton, North Attleboro and Franklin in consecutive weeks. "We had to play all those physical teams in a row, so we had to be ready every week. But we are still playing for a part of the league championship. We still have something to shoot for."

The Warriors, who are 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the league, will face a Sharon team that has dropped six consecutive games and is 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the league.

"They run the Wing-T pretty well and run some gadget plays," said Martinelli. "They show a variety of kids at different positions. On defense, they will double cover the wideouts and that will hopefully open up some things inside for us."