A simple philosophy that the top-ranked Xaverian Brothers football team has adhered to all season long, regardless of the opposing team, its record, and the score.

“Every play has to be a great play,’’ said Xaverian coach Charlie Stevenson. “Once it’s done, it’s done. You can’t do a play over. No one can do that. So let’s go to the next play.’’

The Hawks have soared to the top of the Catholic Conference race, averaging 30 points per game while limiting foes to 10.4 points.

In their stiffest test to date, the 7-0 Hawks survived a triple-overtime thriller against Bridgewater-Raynham last Sunday, 28-26.

“That’s what people who pay their money to come in and see two undefeated football teams at this time of year . . . come to see,’’ Stevenson said of the win.

After trailing 14-0 at halftime, the Hawks clawed their way back in the second half with a touchdown reception from junior Mike Muir and a highlight-reel-worthy 47-yard run from senior quarterback Alex Phelan.

Stevenson said he was very happy and proud to see how his Hawks were able to “really dig down and see what kind of character [they] have as a football team.’’

“When it gets stuck to you like that in the first half, it’s tough to regroup at halftime and fire yourself up,’’ Stevenson said.

The Hawks were missing four key players: senior captain and linebacker Mike Hyatt, senior receiver Joel Merriam, and senior lineman Matt Tuleja were sidelined with injuries. Senior receiver Garrett Connolly was out sick.

“Any good team has to overcome adversity along the way,’’ Stevenson said. “I think the adversity of those injuries for us this week was really something we had to overcome. So I’m really happy that our team was able to rise to the occasion, so to speak.’’

The 6-foot, 185-pound Phelan celebrated the win along with his 18th birthday, but he was quick to credit his linemen and defense for their skill in the second half to shut down the Trojans.

“Cam [Colwell] and Jack [Dustin] actually came up to me at halftime and said, ‘We’re fully capable of carrying this team on our back,’ and they came in . . . and they did a great job,’’ Phelan said. “We ran to the right like 80 percent of the time for our runs for the second half. Those guys worked very hard and they deserved it.’’

The 6-5, 282-pound Colwell and the 6-2, 263-pound Dustin provide power and stability on the offensive line.

B-R scored touchdowns in the first and third OTs, but both two-point conversions were snuffed out and the Hawks shut the Trojans out completely in the second.

Xaverian also scored touchdowns in the first and third OTs. The Hawks were stopped on the two-point conversion in the first OT, but ran the conversion in the third to win the game.

Junior running back Joe Colton had 15 carries for 98 yards in the game and scored the tying touchdown in the third overtime.

Xaverian hosts unbeaten St. John’s of Shrewsbury Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans did everything they could to command respect from the top-ranked Hawks. Roaring out to a 14-0 lead at the half, they dominated their hosts from the very beginning after snagging an interception a minute and a half into the game. Just 10 plays later, the Trojans were on the board with a quarterback keeper from senior Mike Connolly.

Connolly also scored the second TD, hauling in a pass from senior Kevin Bumpus, last year’s starting quarterback, after first pitching Bumpus the ball. Running backs Branden Morin and Kyle Reid scored in the first and third overtimes.

Tomorrow night the Trojans travel to Dartmouth (1-6) for a 7 p.m. game.

“What we try to do is just take basically one play, one series, one quarter, one game at a time. We don’t look ahead beyond that,’’ Greener said.

Greener tabbed senior quarterback Peter Bowes as the team’s unsung hero because of his ability to step in at quarterback, a position he had not played since his freshman year. Bowes is having a phenomenal year, according to his coach, and is in on just about every play.

Saturday afternoon at 1, the Rebels host Braintree (2-5).

Lizzy Snell be reached at esnell@globe.com.