The Eagles, fresh off their Thanksgiving Day win over the Xaverian Hawks, take on the Whalers of New Bedford tonight at Taunton High School in the first round of the playoffs.

The St. John's Prep football squad is now 7-4 after beating longtime rival Xaverian 21-12 and claiming the Catholic Conference crown on Thursday. Xaverian was also the reigning Division I champ.

New Bedford (6-4) is representing the Big Three Conference after defeating Brockton on Thursday, another upset to the status quo of years past and a feat the Prep team was unable to accomplish this year.

It has been several years since either team has made it into the playoffs – seven years for the Eagles and nine for the Whalers – and St. John's has prevailed over New Bedford in postseason play before, for instance in 1997 when the Eagles defeated the Whalers first in the regular season and again on their way to win the Super Bowl.

Kickoff is 5 p.m. in Taunton. The victor will head to the Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium to play the winner of the Everett-Andover game, which is at 7:45 in Lynn tonight.