FOXBORO – King Philip football head coach Brian Lee was a little nervous that the relief of avenging consecutive losses in the Div. 2 Super Bowl would outweigh the joy of winning in the program’s third straight appearance Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.

Once he took a look at his players in closing minutes of the top-seeded Warriors’ 42-14 win over No. 3 Marshfield, though, that fear was put to rest.

Behind three touchdown passes from quarterback Tommy McLeish, three more scores from Tallan King and four total turnovers from the defense as part of a second-half shutout, he’ll never know how a third straight loss at this stage would’ve affected him.

A complete effort produced 28 unanswered points against a Rams team that averaged over 50 points this postseason, and King Philip (13-0) is champion again for the first time since 2017.

“Seeing the kids’ faces, it just makes it all worth it,” Lee said. “I told my good friend, Darren, today, I’m like, ‘I don’t think I can handle another (loss).’ … I’m just so proud of them. God, the kids are wonderful.”

“The goal was to come back here,” McLeish added. “We wanted to win every game up to this point. Doing this and finally seeing it all come together, it’s unreal. I’ll never, never forget this. … All these guys, they deserve every minute of it.”

The potent Marshfield offense scored a touchdown on its first possession. King Philip struggled to tackle, and Rams quarterback Tor Maas orchestrated a 7-0 lead on just six plays.

But aside from allowing another quick touchdown drive to Marshfield to tie the score at 14-14 with 4:13 left in the half, the Warriors’ defense was as stout as it could be in a championship game.

David Constantine picked off a deep ball from Maas on the Rams’ second drive. Sean King recovered a fumble on the fourth. King Philip didn’t allow a first down on the last two Marshfield drives of the first half to hold a 21-14 lead at the break, and two turnover-on-downs in the second half – including one at the Warriors’ 12 – proved the final blows to prevent a comeback.

“We pride ourselves on defense,” Lee said. “Matt Wassel, our defensive coordinator, (is) by far, without a doubt, the best defensive coordinator in the state. And so when you have that, the kids know that. They feel it. They want to be a part of our defense, they don’t want to give up any points. They’re very stingy.”

Meanwhile, the offense had little issue moving the ball through an impressive display of balance. Andrew Laplante’s 134 yards on the ground were bolstered by Tallan King’s 92 yards and Jack Berthiamue’s 40 yards over several methodical drives, which only opened up space in play-action for McLeish (11-for-15, 166 yards) to flourish.

Tallan King tied the score at 7-7 in the first quarter, and McLeish found Daniel Silveria (five catches, 62 yards, two touchdowns) from seven yards out for a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. McLeish heaved a 42-yard touchdown strike to David Holland for the halftime lead, and two strong touchdown runs from Tallan King from 23 and 16 yards paced a 21-0 second half.

King Philip finished with twice as many yards (447) as Marshfield (203).

“The line was moving people all night,” McLeish said. “They were doing everything they could up there, and it just made the passing game that much more open.”

“We have a very good offensive line, and they’re tight,” Lee added. “It was nice to see them get in that groove and at the end, just grind the clock out. That just felt like a dream, just KP football at the end.”

A pass intended for Marshfield’s Reid Bergamesca (10) is broken up by King Philip’s David Constantine during the first half of the Div. 2 state championship battle in Foxboro. (Photo by Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)