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MANSFIELD - It has been and will be anything but routine for the Mansfield High School football team - just concentrating on the academic workload through the first two weeks of the first semester is difficult enough.

But, the Hornets have a non-league game at Endicott College on Saturday and then fly out to Ohio Sept. 14.

"We're very sick of practice, we're healthy and the we're ready to play," related Mansfield High mentor Mike Redding, whose Hornets take on Holy Cross High of Flushing, New York Saturday on artificial turf. "It's kind of like playing the team from California (Cathedral Catholic of San Diego) last year, we don't know a lot about them."

Holy Cross plays in the Catholic School League and draws a mix of players from the city and New York suburbs. "We have film on them, but are the teams they playing not as good? How good is the league?" queried Redding. "There's a sense of excitement for the players, but in a situation like this, there are sleepless nights for the coaches.

"The kids are working hard, but they're tired of hitting each other," added Redding. "Coaches are always looking for more days of preparation, there are still things that we have to improve upon." The foundation for success on offense will be built upon a strong-armed veteran quarterback and an experienced line. Senior Mark Gilson (6-2, 190) has the talent and the experience and he has four seniors on the line to protect him. Junior Dan Glavin (6-2, 250) and senior Mike McPherson (6-2, 275) are the tackles, seniors Bill Gasson and Andrew Bourget are both three-year starters at guard.

Hornet football is definitely alive and well as Redding had some 90 upperclassmen as candidates for the junior varsity and varsity teams and another 60 candidates for the freshmen team.

"This is kind of being billed as the Boston Classic, a Boston-New York rivalry," added Redding. "A bigger issue, though, might be the heat. And being the first game of the season, you want to avoid injuries."

Franklin at Attleboro

ATTLEBORO - Coach Kevin Deschenes and his Bombardiers would like to begin the season on solid footing, especially at Tozier-Cassidy Field where the 2007 edition of AHS football begins the season with a non-league game against Franklin.

"We lost four games (by a total of 19 points) last year, so we can't let things slide away," said Deschenes of the Bombardiers being able to close out contests, control the ball and make the plays when necessary on defense. "Franklin will be a good test because they have a spread offense, some good weapons. We're going to have to play disciplined football."

Bishop Feehan at Nauset

ATTLEBORO - The scenario is pretty basic, pretty simple for coach Tony Wood. With only two wins last season, the Shamrocks need to get the ball into the hands of senior running back Nick Schwieger and need to have senior quarterback Mike McGowan work some magic.

"I think that it's going to be tougher for teams to concentrate just on Nick (Schwieger)," said Wood, who anticipates the Shamrocks sharing a wealth of weapons on offense. The Shamrocks do have a veteran cast of linemen too in Kyle Schmitt, Chris Paine, Jake Curran, Chris Harris and Chris Villandre.

Dighton-Rehoboth at Somerset REHOBOTH - Dave Driscoll begins his 27th season on the sidelines and is determined to win more than the four that his Falcons took home last season. Senior Chris Alves is the quarterback, but for the most part, the skill position players are inexperienced.

However, the Falcons have the kind of offensive and defensive lines that can dominate games, specifically 270-pound senior tackle Matt MacLagan, 210-pound senior tackle Matt MacDonald and 235-pound senior tackle Chris Whitmore.

Concord, N.H. at Foxboro

FOXBORO - "You can never have enough time to get ready," offered Warrior coach Jack Martinelli whose defending Division 2 Super Bowl champions turn on the lights at the Ahern School Field with a non-league game against Concord, N.H. True to form, Martinelli is more concerned about the Warriors and their development than in Concord.

The Warriors have some quality depth at the skill positions with quarterback Brian Swanton (6-0, 195) and senior running back Tim Mogan (5-9, 180), a 100-yard rusher in the Division 2 Super Bowl game. Junior Nick Thrasher has moved to fullback, while the receiving corps has sure-handed speedsters in Stephon Neville and Ali Mourtada, both 5-9.

Fairhaven at Norton

NORTON - Coach Robb McCoy has been impressed with everything that he has seen thus far from his Lancers, the options that they have on offense, the pursuit by the defense, the intense, competitive nature of his players. "We have a lot of kids, who can do a lot of things," said McCoy.

The Lancers started the 2006 season strongly, winning their first six games. Under the lights at Adams Field, the excitement is building and Norton could very well be much better in 2007, what with Dave Billotte at quarterback (replacing Ben Hastings, who chose to concentrate on baseball), Mike Glassman and Corey Hatch as runners and a stellar receiving corps.

Hopkinton at King Philip

WRENTHAM - With renovations still continuing at King Philip High and at Macktaz Field, the Warriors had their scheduled home opener tonight shifted to Hopkinton, a 4 p.m. game Saturday. The Warriors were to have played their first four games at home.

Blackstone Valley at Tri-County

FRANKLIN - "We're ahead of the game," said Tri-County coach Dan MacLean of the learning curve of his Cougars, his system in place and a bunch of holdovers back from a team which won just three games last year. Peter Beckwith has moved from tight end to tailback and Luke Mistler has moved from wide receiver to quarterback, two keys in the offensive scheme.

Dan Grillo, at 195 pounds, and John Bowman, at 310 pounds, are the tackles, both two-way players. And most impressively, the Cougars gained quite a bit of confidence in not only playing in the Hockomock League Jamboree, but beating Sharon. "The offense is getting there and our defense is well-conditioned."