WRENTHAM-The King Philip, Mansfield rivalry has been the best rivalry in the Hockomock League the past eight years.

King Philip dominated the rivalry from 2014-2018, winning six of seven meetings. Mansfield has turned the tables on the Warriors in recent years however winning the last three meetings.

The tables were turned once again last night with the Warriors coming out on top 24-6.

Thanks to a potent rushing attack led by quarterback Charlie Grant and running backs Rudy Gately and Crawford Cantave, The Warriors jumped out to a 24-0 lead and never looked back.

King Philip Coach Brian Lee talked about the Warriors approach offensively.

“It’s a nice formula, control the ball, control the clock if you can make it work,”

The Warriors certainly did that with Grant (63 yards), Cantave (42 yards), Astorino (25 yards), and Gately (182 yards) combining to rush for 312 yards.

King Philip’s offensive and defensive lines dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and they were the difference in the game.

Of course no King Philip win would be a “KP Win” without mentioning the performance of the Warriors defense, which was once again stellar tonight.

Lee mentioned all the preparation that goes into getting the defense ready to play against a team like Mansfield.

“We’ve got great coaches. The kids work really hard. There is a lot of checks There is a lot of preparation.”

Despite jumping out to a 24-0 lead, the Warriors needed their defense to bail them out in a couple of situations.

“The defense bailed us out of that, We made two bonehead plays and I think the difference in this game compared to other games was we were able to respond. Usually, that would just open the floodgate and let them score and then we’re playing in this back and forth.”

The Warriors ground and pound approach isn’t exactly sexy but it is effective and when they can sprinkle in the occasional big play like Charlie Grant’s 22 yard touchdown scramble, they are even tougher to defend. Lee talked about Grant and him playing with more confidence.

“They played so much man and there weren’t a lot of dudes open, so we just said hey Charlie just go for it,” Lee explained. “When he threw the pick, afterwards I’m like why force it. If you’ve got the edge, just go ahead and run. He looked like the Charlie of Pop Warner days, running around, he was the nice athlete on the field, and I’m like you can still do all that.”

With the Warriors winning and Franklin beating Milford, the two teams will now be playing for a Kelley-Rex title on Thanksgiving. Before that however, the Warriors have some business to take care of in the playoffs. Lee talked about the Hockomock League preparing his team for the playoffs.

“So much fun,” Lee said. “It’s almost like we pause the season and then we’ll think about Thanksgiving when we get there. The Hock has just felt like playoffs the whole season.”

The Warriors will find out who they play on Sunday. They will host at least one game at home.