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MANSFIELD - No matter what happens on Thanksgiving, Mansfield will be moving on. Thanks to its head-to-head win over North Attleboro, the Hornets are guaranteed a postseason berth regardless of the outcome of Thursday's game and will take on Bishop Feehan on Tuesday to see who will play in the Division 2 Super Bowl.

No matter what happens on Thanksgiving, Foxboro will not play another game this year. With a 3-7 record coming into the matchup, the Warriors have no postseason aspirations.

But don't let any of that fool you. For players and coaches on both sides, this game certainly means something, even if standings-wise it's almost meaningless (Mansfield needs to win in order to win the Hockomock League title outright). And for Foxboro, it might as well be their Super Bowl.

"You still play Foxboro Mansfield no matter where, when, or what the situation is, it's a heated rivalry," Foxboro coach Jack Martinelli, who will coach his 27th Thanksgiving battle between the Warriors

and the Hornets, said. The 78th meeting between the cross-town rivals may not be for a playoff spot, for a championship, for anything but pride ... but ever since the holiday rivalry started in 1947 pride has been the thing that has mattered most to both teams.

"The rivalry is, without a doubt to me, as intense as any rivalry in football anywhere," Martinelli said. "You line up in something even as simple as a jamboree and it takes on the importance of a midseason game."

"It certainly becomes our biggest game now, this is just more about tradition and a next-door-neighbor rivalry, it's as good of a rivalry as there is in Massachusetts," Mansfield coach Mike Redding, now in his 21st year, said. "There will be a lot of emotion, I think our kids will be ready to go. I think they know the bonus is the better we play the more momentum we'll have."

Mansfield has had the best of Foxboro recently, winning four of the last five matchups, and the Hornets hold an all-time 42-32-3 record.

And the Hornets certainly look to have the advantage in this year's game. Mansfield comes into the game riding a nine-game winning streak, its only loss coming to Division 1 Super Bowl favorite Dartmouth on a field goal in the game's closing moments.

But Redding and his staff know that records might as well be tossed out the window in a rivalry like this.

"I'm sure they've been disappointed with their wins and losses but this is a chance to redeem their season in a degree," Redding said. "We know they're going to be very fired up. In their last four games they're 3-1 and just put up 35 points on King Philip.

"They're a scary team coming in with nothing lose."

And while the Warriors have nothing to lose against the Hornets, they'll need to play their best game of the season if they want to win.

"We have to put everything together against this team," Martinelli said. On defense, Foxboro will have to contain a Mansfield offense that has greatly improved from the beginning of the year. Quarterback Jeff Mallett, who has emerged as a starter for a team that originally used a two-quarterback system, has found his stride in the passing offense, but the Hornets still rely heavily on a running game featuring numerous talented backs with speed.

"They line up toe-to-toe, they're very physical up front, and (Redding) has speed in the backfield, which makes for a pretty good offensive combination," Martinelli said. "They don't claim to throw the ball as much as they used to but they're improved on it from the preseason to now that it's a dangerous weapon."

Mansfield's bread and butter is still its running game, behind a big, strong offensive line.

"In the 20 years we've always had the team speed, this year we have a little advantage in the size up front," Redding said. "This is a game we'd kind of like to set the tone by knocking them off the ball and establishing the ground game early."

The Hornets face an offense that has also improved, as Foxboro didn't score an offensive touchdown until its fourth game of the season. But the offense exploded for 35 points against King Philip in its last game, and will need to play well again if the Warriors hope to pull off the upset, led by the two-headed running attack of Mike Delaney and Luke Soccorso.

"On offense, obviously we have to score but we also have to keep the ball away from them," Martinelli said. "We have to use the clock, if we are able to. We have to spread them as much as we can.

"They're very physical. I'm sure their game plan is to stop Delaney, that's what they'll have to do, and we'll have to counter with some other backs or put the ball in the air."

"Delaney is good, Soccorso is very good at fullback, and they have the other kid, (Garrett) Simons is good," Redding said. "They have more than just (Delaney), (quarterback Brian) Swanton worries us with play-action, if you get too aggressive he's dangerous throwing the ball."

While Mansfield will head to the playoffs regardless of the outcome, don't expect the Hornets to take this game lightly. Mansfield's starters will play all-game, if necessary.

"We'd like, in a perfect world, to get our starters out at some point," Redding said. "But if it's tied up with 5 minutes left our starters will be in trying to win."

And you can bet Foxboro will be going all-out in an attempt to salvage its season.

"It's funny, the game is very fickle, you're only as good as your last win, so this would be huge for the kids," Martinelli said.