Hendricken travels to rival La Salle for a meeting of the unbeatens in Division I. Pilgrim and Toll Gate clash in a pivotal Division III matchup. The ‘Canes look to upset St. Ray’s on the road in their final regular season game of the season. It’s time again to dive into the Warwick football action.

- The Hawks are fresh off their bye week and will tilt with La Salle as the only two spotless teams left in Division I. The Rams have a gripe with Hendricken as, over the five consecutive championships the Hawks have won, three have come at La Salle’s expense. The Hawks fell to La Salle in the regular season in 2014 before rolling past the Rams 32-7 in the state title game. The intensity will unquestionably be there for this week’s contest in Providence. La Salle enters with the most explosive offense in D-I, scoring 253 points across its six wins. The Hawks are the closest team to the Rams, scoring 182 points in their six wins. The defenses are similar, though, with Hendricken allowing 41 points to La Salle’s 46. The only difference between the two, in my opinion, is quality wins thus far. The Rams have blown out the third- and fourth-best teams in D-I this season, beating South Kingstown (4-2) 41-7 and East Providence (4-3) 41-14. The Hawks also beat East Providence, 20-6, to start the season, and have victories over Portsmouth and Cumberland, who both currently sit outside the playoff picture. This week against the Rams and next week hosting South Kingstown will reveal quite a bit about Hendricken’s viability for a sixth straight title. On a neutral field, I think Hendricken wins this matchup. However, home field can swing this La Salle’s way for another regular season rivalry win.

Score: La Salle 38, Hendricken 28

- Warwick Vets soured on a chance to get its first winning streak of the season last week in a favorable matchup with Woonsocket. However, the Novans’ defense proved to be too much for the Vets’ offense, shutting it down 30-0. The ’Canes fell to 0-6 in league play after grabbing their first win on the season the previous week against D-III Narragansett, 36-32. The schedule doesn’t get much easier for Vets, either. Next up is the final game of the regular season, at playoff-bound St. Raphael’s (4-2). The Saints have allowed the second-fewest points in Division II with just 47 yielded all season. In a game against first-place Rogers earlier this season, St. Raphael’s lost, but allowed just 14 points. The ’Canes’ offense isn’t high-powered enough to overcome that type of lockdown defense. Vets would have to play a perfect game in all three phases to pull off the upset on the Saints’ senior night, but I think it’s too tall of a task.

Score: St. Raphael’s 24, Vets 0

- Pilgrim and Toll Gate both had the same record at 3-1 a couple of weeks ago, but now they sit in different positions in the Division III football standings. The Pats are in prime position for not only a playoff spot at 5-1, but a potential stab at the No. 1 overall seed. The Titans, though, are fighting for their playoff lives at 3-3 after a 27-12 loss to Lincoln and a 42-0 blowout against Classical. In order for Toll Gate to hope for the postseason, it would need Lincoln to lose to Narragansett (1-5) this week and get wins against Pilgrim and Ponaganset (0-6). It may be too much to hope for, but Toll Gate can only focus on its schedule for now. The Titans will face one of the division’s most explosive offenses in Pilgrim, which averages 37.7 points per game. Offense has not been the strong suit for Toll Gate this season, as it only averages 17.5 points per game. The defenses are much closer, with Pilgrim yielding 16 points a contest and Toll Gate allowing 19.7. If the Titans don’t jump on top early and force Pilgrim to make mistakes, it could be a long night as the Pats’ defense has allowed just six second-half points over the past three games. Senior running back Owen Kelly has had at least three touchdowns in four straight games, too, and I don’t see that streak coming to a close just yet. Alex Mowry and Sean Devlin can cause some problems on the ground for Pilgrim, but like last week with Middletown’s two-headed rushing attack, the Pats can make adjustments. Look for Pilgrim to come out on top as the new Warwick rivalry takes shape.

Score: Pilgrim 42, Toll Gate 14