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Going into tonight's clash of the Warriors at Arnold Macktaz Field, King Philip is favored to do something the team last pulled off in 1999 - beat Foxboro.

But it won't be as easy as it perhaps appeared it would be three weeks ago, when Foxboro was sitting at 0-6 while KP was 6-0. Since then Foxboro has gone 3-0, outscoring their opponents 128-14 while King Philip has dropped two of three, falling out of Hockomock League contention after losses to North Attleboro and Mansfield in back-to-back weeks.

"We've gotten better," Foxboro coach Jack Martinelli said. "We've got it figured out how to win and how to not lose. Sometimes teams play not to win, but to not lose, and sometimes that bites them."

Not that Foxboro should be oozing confidence, their three wins coming against the bottom three teams in the Hockomock League (Sharon, Oliver Ames, Canton). But Martinelli's squad's performance against Canton last week, where they held the Bulldogs to negative-three yards of total offense in the first half and just 58 yards of offense overall, has the team feeling good.

A lot of that defensive success can be traced to the solid play of linebacker Dave Lull, who filled in last week for injured Mitch Connolly wonderfully, making 11 tackles in the Foxboro victory. Connolly, the defensive leader for Foxboro, will be out again this week, meaning Lull will have to have another standout game. "There's no doubt you miss Mitch's intensity but I don't think we skip a beat with Dave in there in regards to execution," Martinelli said. "I think he was out to prove that he belonged in there full time and he certainly did do that last week against a team I thought played most teams pretty tough."

King Philip would love nothing more than beating Foxboro tonight. In the last four matchups between the two Warrior squads Foxboro has come away with four victories, winning the games by a combined score of 148-27.

"Foxboro is a great program with a ton of winning tradition," King Philip coach Brian Lee said. "Not only have we not beat them in a while, it hasn't even been close. We just haven't matched up over the years. The great thing about football is you get another shot each year, we are excited about the opportunity to compete with such a perennial power."

If King Philip wants to come away with the win they'll be looking to stop Foxboro's running game, led by Mike Delaney.

"Their new tailback Delaney is very good, but you can't just focus on him because their other backs will hurt you inside," Lee said.

And Martinelli is hoping his running game will help keep a powerful King Philip offense off the field.

"We're going to have to wear them down," Martinelli said. "Physically try to wear them down if we can."

It all boils down to a battle that will be closer this year than it has been in a long time, one that both teams will be playing for pride if not for anything else.

"You know Foxboro is going to be physical," Lee said. "We have to match that physicality but at the same time stay focused and execute. But that is easier said than done."

Mansfield at Norwich, Conn. Another year, another trip out of state for the Hornets.

Last year the Hornets traveled to John Carrol University in Ohio to take on St. Edward. This year Mansfield has a slightly more manageable trip to make on Saturday, when the Hornets travel to Norwich, Conn. to take on Norwich Free Academy.

A coach from Norwich, who roomed with a former Mansfield player in college at Springfield College, saw an Internet posting by the Mansfield staff, and with a one-year opening for this week, a clash between two quality programs from different states was set up.

Norwich, whose male enrollment would make it a Division 1 team similar to Attleboro if it were in EMass, improved their record last week to 6-2 overall in clinching the Eastern Connecticut Large Division title last week, their first since 2002.

The Hornets, coming off a grinding 13-7 win over North Attleboro to clinch a playoff spot and at least a share of the Hockomock League championship, are hoping for a better result when they travel away from Massachusetts this time around. The Hornets lost to St. Edward last year.

If they hope to do that, Mansfield will have to slow down a fast team that is made faster by playing on old-style turf, the type that resembles carpet more than grass.

"They use the spread, I guess like everybody else," Redding said. "They've got speed and use the old astroturf. They're predicting rain and wind which would be in our favor."

Luckily for the Hornets, the Wildcats look a lot like a team they've seen recently, even dressing in the same colors as that familiar foe.

"They're very similar to North Attleboro," Redding said. "They have a lot of the same formations and plays, so we can use some of the same stuff we used against North."

The Hornets are excited to get a chance to not just represent Mansfield or the Hockomock League, but all of EMass football.

"You get kind of a target on your back in New England," Redding said. "Even though it isn't a must-win game we have a responsibility to represent how good football in this area is. I think in general Massachusetts football is not as respected as it should be and this is a chance to go out on the road and show people."

North Attleboro at Canton

Going into practice on this week, you couldn't blame the North Attleboro football team if it was a bit down.

After falling to Mansfield last week 13-7 the Red Rocketeers' hopes of a playoff appearance was dashed. With two games left, all North has to play for is a chance to be named co-champions of the Hockomock League.

But the Rocketeers came to practice on Monday, and the day after that, and the day after that, ready to play.

"They responded, everybody showed back up," North Attleboro coach Kurt Kummer said. "They're working hard. We're trying to put it behind us and get ready for Canton. It hasn't been easy, it was a tough game and a tough loss."

Waiting for the Rocketeers is a Canton team that sits 4-4 overall, but just 2-4 in the Hockomock League. Still, the Bulldogs are a dangerous squad according to Kummer.

"They're very good defensively," he said. "They play a 5-3 and blitz everybody. We have to pick up the blitz, be able to throw the ball and block people when we want to run."

If the Rocketeers can do that, they should come away with the victory and an outside chance to share the Hockomock League crown with the Mansfield team that beat them last week. But even if that doesn't happen, North will hold their heads high.

"We still have a chance for a part of a league championship, it's an outside chance but it's still a chance," Kummer said. "Our kids are self motivated, they love playing for big red and the kid next to them."