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GEORGETOWN | Big Players make big plays in big games. That has been the slogan all season long for the Manchester Essex football team.

After yesterday's 27-7 Commonwealth Conference small championship-clinching victory over Georgetown, the entire Hornets team could be seen as big players for making a number of big plays in the biggest game of the season.

Over the last few years, football fans have watched Tom Brady and Peyton Manning dominate the National Football League with their rivalry and individual performances.

This season the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Small has their own version of Brady vs. Manning in Manchester Essex's Pat Orlando and Georgetown's Joe Esposito.

This small-school rivalry is one of the games of the day in Eastern Mass.

The only question now is will there be room around Georgetown High for the glut of television truck and crews in town. Manchester-Essex (8-2) and Georgetown (8-1) collide for the 48th time, the 17th meeting on Thanksgiving, and no meeting has been bigger.

High school football is about planning, second-year Georgetown football coach Matt Bouchard said.

"Obviously, any time you start a new endeavor, you have goals," he said. "You put a plan out there. You hope your staff, yourself and your athletes can follow that plan."

It doesn't take long for Georgetown senior Nadjee Harrigan to pinpoint the difference in the school's football team over the past three seasons.

Having started his football career as a sophomore under coach Paul Swaim, Harrigan played on an average 2005 team that finished 5-5 | two wins shy of a playoff berth. "Every game was a measuring stick," Harrigan said. "We didn't know if we were getting better."

Where: Georgetown High

Date: Thursday, Nov. 22

Time: 10 a.m.

Coaches: Mike Athanas, Manchester Essex; Matt Bouchard, Georgetown.

Captains: Manchester Essex: Phil Gillette, Sr. C/LB; Scott Forsythe, Sr. TE/DE, Sam Cohen, Sr. WR/DB; Pat Orlando, Jr. QB/DB; Georgetown: Brandon Wade, Sr. RB/S, Jeff Rollins, Sr. OG/DT, Joe Esposito, Jr. QB/DB;

CHELSEA | It took just 30 seconds for Chelsea's kicker to make a complete mess of Georgetown's return team. It took Royals quarterback Joe Esposito 11 minutes to repair the damage, but his efforts were fruitful and Georgetown won the contest 21-12.

GEORGETOWN | Georgetown looked unstoppable while Minuteman Regional looked as sloppy as the waterlogged field.

The Royals ran the ball at will and their defense was simply dominant as they rolled to their sixth straight victory, 42-20, despite the relentless cold rain and strong winds that were present the entire afternoon.

WAKEFIELD | Joe Esposito rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for two more as Georgetown cruised to a 27-0 win over Northeast.

The junior quarterback rushed for 88 yards and passed for another 149. Esposito ignited the offense with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Nadjee Harrigan, with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

For a powerhouse Georgetown team that is 5-1 and has scored 180 points in the Commonwealth Conference Small, the key to success goes beyond a potent offense.

It's the intangibles that fuel this engine.