TAUNTON – A four-touchdown performance from senior running back Sean McCoy helped steer Mansfield to a 42-28 football victory over Walpole to secure a berth in the Div. 3 State Championship.

Despite heavy rain and wind, Hornets coach Mike Redding said his team was focused on avenging an epic 39-31 loss in last season’s quarterfinals. The focus was on stopping Walpole quarterback Noah Mackenzie.

“The big thing was to get this thing over before the fourth,” Redding said. “Don’t give Noah Mackenzie a chance to rally late and we were able to do that.”

The Hornets started with the ball but were quickly forced to punt. Walpole quickly responded with a drive that ended in a 37-yard rushing touchdown from junior Dillon Needham.

“We chose to take the ball and we go three-and-out,” Redding said. “They get the ball and go right down the field and I’m like ‘I guess that wasn’t a very good decision’.”

It worked out as the Hornets scored 35 consecutive points on the Timberwolves.

“After that we were lights out,” Redding said. “We pounded them pretty good with the run game and set up some play-action stuff. Defensively, we settled down and caught up to the speed of the game.”

This started with an 11-yard run from McCoy, who added a five-yard TD later in the half. A Mason Bordieri rushing touchdown had Mansfield up 21-7 at halftime.

“Once we knew the rain was coming, we knew it would be a running game,” McCoy said. “We have them in that, they are a great pass team but on the ground we can dominate them. We knew that coming in.”

Walpole stalled on its next drive before the Hornets responded with a 9:23 drive that ended with a two-yard rushing touchdown for McCoy.

“The line was there the whole night, creating holes,” McCoy said. “I was just running the ball; the credit belongs to them.”

After a turnover on downs from Walpole, Mansfield went to the passing game as Tommy Vallett hit Andrew DeGirolamo for a 38-yard passing touchdown.

Walpole finally got some momentum as Mackenzie connected with Cash Cantrell for a 10-yard touchdown and minutes later hit a screen pass that went 60 yards for a TD. But that was over quickly as on Mansfield’s first play of the next drive was a 51-yard run and a touchdown for McCoy.

“This is awesome,” McCoy said. “We’ve been thinking about this game and how it went last year. This means a lot.”

A Mackenzie touchdown to Quinn McNeill in the final seconds rounded out the scoring, and Mansfield now prepares to face North Attleboro in the Championship at Gillette Stadium. This is a rematch of a 14-10 loss to North Attleboro from Oct. 25 and Redding said the team is motivated to redeem themselves.

“We want it,” Redding said. “We have to run the ball a lot better, we have to protect the QB. We learned a lot by looking at the film and everyone in our program wanted a second chance. It will be a lot of fun, two teams 10 minutes from Gillette, two rivals, I couldn’t ask for a better way to wrap this thing up.”