(Following up with more on tie-breakers. You can check out this article in today's Globe detailing the potential for tie-breakers in the Dual County and Atlantic Coast Leagues):

Marshfield football coach Lou Silva is weary of point-differential systems.

"Any time you have any point differential, it could lead to something that's unhealthy," said Silva.

Westford coach Mike Parent, meanwhile, is wary of a "last-to-go" tie-breaker.

"Say you had a team that went [to the playoffs] five years ago and another that went 30 years ago. The team that went five years ago would be blocked out and we didn't think that was fair because the kids five years ago would all be removed from the program. Why penalize the next group that comes in? They were probably in the 5th or 6th grade when they watched a championship and just because that team was successful, they can't play in a Super Bowl?"

All the coaches polled agreed that, under this system, teams that were one or two years removed from an appearance could be penalized because the kids had already experienced the playoffs.

When Westford and Acton square off in their annual Thanksgiving festival, both coaches implied they would stick to their guns and do everything in their power to come away with a win.

"It's more important to win than score a lot of points," said Acton-Boxboro coach Bill Maver, noting that both are quite important to his team this year. "We are playing a good team. We're not going into the game thinking we have to score 24 points or more. We want our kids to go out on a good note. At the worst, if we win, we were tri-champs and got a piece of the title. I don't think our chances of getting into the playoffs are very good, but we'll do the best we can. That's all we can do."

Added Parent: "I wouldn't be surprised if Acton doesn't do anything differently because you want to stay within your character, but I'm sure if they got close to those points, that's going to be something they'll shoot for. He'd be crazy if he didn't."

There were two common beliefs among the coaches regarding Turkey Day and the tie-breakers. First and foremost, the objective on Thanksgiving is to win. As for the tie-breaking method of the future, it was a landslide. The coin toss is not an option. The last-to-go can work, but often doesn't. The best option appears to be a tweaked point-differential system, which would only compare the scores in the head-to-head games of those affected teams at the end of the season. A cap to the point differential could also be instituted, as well, at around 20 or 21 points, similar to the Middlesex League's current format.

"Then you aren't trying to run up the score on the teams that aren't in the mix," said Wayland coach Scott Parseghian. "That's the focus in the next league meeting."

Parent added, "I'm sure this will be a hot topic because it creates a lot of controversy. And it sells newspapers."

At the end of the day, it's all about chance, and each coach subconsciously used their own cliché.

"I think most people feel the chips will fall wherever they fall," said Parent.

"We'll either be collecting equipment on Thursday afternoon or we won't be," said Lincoln-Sudbury coach Tom Lopez.

"That's just a gentleman's agreement and, whether right or wrong, that's the way it goes," said Plymouth North coach Bill Burkhead.

"This is what we came up with and, to quote a famous coach, 'It is what it is,'" said Maver. "We hope the turkey tastes good, No. 1, and we'll go from there. If we're not fortunate enough to win on Thanksgiving Day, we'll look back and say we could've taken care of business earlier and we didn't."