Thursday Morning Rights ... and Wrongs.

OK, here it is, the day for which we've all been waiting. Thanksgiving Day, the day when rivalries are celebrated and contested, and generations of fans and former athletes return to their high schools to share in the excitement of the present while reliving their past.

Remember the feeling, folks. Because if some coaches push through the new football playoff plan that would start the playoffs in October and devalue the Thanksgiving games to the point where they are anti-climactic annoyances, these special games will lose their unique stature on the high school sports landscape. They may still exist, but a lot of the younger coaches from the really bad leagues wish they didn't so they could put everyone in the playoffs.

Enough on that soapbox -- here are my picks for the six holiday games in our area (home teams in CAPS):

NORTH ATTLEBORO 24, Attleboro 21: I've enjoyed watching both of these teams this year. But at a certain point, the teams started going in different directions, and that's what I think will carry the day at Beaupre Field. Attleboro played its best game of the year in the one-point loss at Bridgewater-Raynham. That was the one game this year in which the Bombardiers played championship-level defense, however, and it hasn't been the same since. North, meanwhile, seized the day at Mansfield and staged one of the best comebacks I've ever seen, and I think that will sustain the Rocketeers as they strive to bring "Hilda" back to Wilson Whitty Way.

Mansfield 31, FOXBORO 20: This will be a year that will live on in the Hornets' memories because of two fourth quarters in which double-digit leads could not be held. I can't see Nik Busharis, Shawn Doherty, Matt Zonghetti, Matt Schafer and Jeff Hill wanting a loss to Foxboro to be added to that frustration. Foxboro's running attack is well respected, but put the two teams side by side and measure position against position, and Mansfield seems to be the more well-rounded offensive team. Foxboro will want to keep possession as long as it can, keep the Hornet offense off the field and hope for another fourth-quarter fade. I don't think it will happen, though.

FRANKLIN 23, King Philip 20: A tough call. I know King Philip has been much more stingy on defense, But I see Franklin's spread offense as a means of tiring out the Warriors' defenders. RB Matt Carini is a legitimate game-breaker, but QB Nick Colson may be the Panthers' real MVP because he can run and pass equally well, and he runs the spread to best advantage. Brandon Howard and the talented KP offense have to hope that the Panthers can't cover the receivers as well as Mansfield did earlier in the year, because that will mean trouble. I expect this one to be close, maybe a last-possession win.

Dighton-Rehoboth 31, SEEKONK 14: The Warriors had a great run at the beginning of the season, and should be proud of what they accomplished, But their numbers have dwindled over the course of the season, and D-R has managed to get better and better with each passing week. The Brett Croteau-to-Brian Espinosa combination has really clicked over the second half of the year, and while I've seen the Seekonk defense play up to the level of its challenge in some very tough games, this challenge might be a bit too much.

BISHOP FEEHAN 14, Sandwich 13: Hey, Shamrocks, want some bulletin-board material? This is from Sandwich coach Bill Luette in Wednesday's Cape Cod Times: "Sandwich doesn't see the game against Feehan as a true rivalry," Luette said. "They (Feehan) are way out near Foxboro. Where is the rivalry in that?" Well, close enough. Actually, I have to agree with the guy. Feehan had a great holiday rivalry with Coyle-Cassidy some time back, but Tauntonians demanded that Coyle come back and play Taunton again, and now both holiday games stink. In any event, Sandwich is 5-5 and plays in the tough Atlantic Coast League, and may be better than we local chauvinists believe, so this is why this game gets the famed one-point distinction (which means, I don't really know). At least we know who's going to the playoffs.

NORTON 21, Bellingham 7: Not a championship year for the Lancers in Ted Currle's debut, but given the graduation losses, good job by the Lancers to be in the middle of the Tri-Valley League pack. My only regret as Norton beats the Blackhawks again is that Dale Caparaso isn't coaching in Bellingham any more. Yeah, I hold grudges.