EAST BAY — The local high school football teams are hoping for more treats than tricks when most play on Halloween eve Friday night, Oct. 29, as the East Providence and Mt. Hope sides look to stamp their postseason tickets while Seekonk seeks to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot with a victory.

In Newport at Toppa Field, the 4-1 Townies can lock up a bid in the upcoming Rhode Island Division One state championship tournament with a victory over host Rogers. Game time is 7 p.m.

East Providence enters the contest in a share of second place with Barrington, after the Eagles suffered a 14-0 defeat on the road last weekend to Bishop Hendricken. LaSalle remains unbeaten and atop the league standings with a 5-0 mark. The Rams take the week off in preparation for their outing next week in Barrington, a rematch of last year’s state title game won by LaSalle.

While a win over the Vikings sends the locals into the playoff field of four, it doesn’t guarantee the Townies’ place in the state tournament. That will be decided over the coming weeks with games against Hendricken, Nov. 13, and Thanksgiving Day against the Rams. If both teams win out, the Turkey Day rivalry between E.P. and LaSalle would likely determine the top seed in the playoffs.

Before the Townies cross that bridge, they must face a Rogers team that is a bit of an enigma. The Vikings played LaSalle to a tough, 14-0 decision earlier in the year, were crushed by Hendricken, 33-0, and only last week fell to Division Four Exeter-West Greenwich, 13-6. Rogers’ lone win was a 22-18 victory North Kingstown, which E.P. crushed a week ago, 35-6.

“Rogers is a difficult team to read,” said EPHS head coach Sandy Gorham “They played LaSalle to a 14-0 game then they beat North Kingstown and were completely overmatched by Hendricken, so I can’t figure them out.

“All I know is Rogers came in here last year and kicked our behinds,” Gorham added of the Vikings, 26-7 win over the Townies at Pierce Field in 2008. “I told the kids that was one of worse losses I was ever associated with. We didn’t show up. The thing about the Rogers game is if we win, we clinch a playoff spot. And if we keep winning, we can avoid the fourth spot and avoid playing the first-place team in the first round. So this game has a lot of meaning for us.”

CHARIHO AT MT. HOPE

In Bristol, the Mt. Hope High squad welcomes Chariho for its Homecoming game at 7 p.m. The Huskies enter the contest with a 4-1 record in Division Two-A, having handed West Warwick its first league loss of the year by an impressive 25-6 count last week.

Like East Providence, Mt. Hope is all but assured of a playoff berth. A win over the 1-4 Chargers would cement the Huskies’ spot in the eight-team Division Two tournament field and would keep the locals on track of earning a top seed and a home game in the quarterfinal round of the event.

“I don’t know all of the things with the standings and tiebreakers with the head-to-head, but I think this game puts us into first place in the division,” Mt. Hope head coach Ron Silva said of the win over West Warwick. Currently the Huskies, Wizards, Woonsocket and Westerly share similar 4-1 records in the Two-A standings. Westerly defeated Chariho last week, 16-0.

“All I know is we need to win our last two league games, so this week is important,” Silva continued. “It’s our Homecoming game. The kids will be excited to play.”

BARRINGTON AT ST. RAPHAEL

Barrington heads to the McCoy Annex/Pariseau Field Friday night at 7 to take on a rebuilding St. Raphael squad, which is clinging to slim playoff hopes with a 1-3 record.

The Eagles were outplayed in suffering their first loss of the season last week against Hendricken. Barrington, however, can back on track and feeling good about itself again on the build-up to its showdown with LaSalle next week by handling the Saints. St. Ray’s suffered a convincing 27-6 setback to Portsmouth last week on the road.

SEEKONK AT GREATER NEW BEDFORD VOC

On the road Friday night also at 7, the Seekonk High squad looks to keep pace in the Massachusetts South Coast Conference ranks with a victory over its winless hosts Greater New Bedford Voc.

The Bears are 0-5 in the conference and 0-6 overall after dropping a 42-14 decision to Apponequet last week. The Warriors are coming off a 22-14 non-league setback to Martha’s Vineyard, which left the locals with a 4-3 overall record.

"We don't want this to be a 'trap game. You can't take anyone in this conference lightly," said SHS head coach Jack Whalen. "We want this be another Case game (a 34-0 Seekonk win) when we were up three or four touchdowns at halftime, then score another one early in the third and get the starters out of there."

More importantly, Seekonk goes to New Bedford with a 4-1 league mark, mathematically in a share of second place with Fairhaven, though the Blue Devils hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Warriors by virtue of their win over the locals three weeks ago. Rival Dighton-Rehoboth remains in the SCC driver’s seat with a 4-0 record. The Falcons host 2-2 Bourne Friday. Fairhaven is at 2-2 Old Rochester this week.

MORE GAMES

Hendricken’s victory over Barrington had numerous ramifications for the local Division One teams.

First and foremost, the Hawks put a dent in the Eagles’ chances of finishing first and being the top seed in the playoffs.

Second, Hendricken stayed in the race for either the second or third seed with both Barrington and East Providence.

Third, the Hawks pulled ahead of Portsmouth in the race for a postseason spot, though only slightly. With a little help and by winning out the Patriots can still make the playoffs over Hendricken because of Portsmouth’s 27-21 victory over the Hawks earlier in the season.

With that written, the Pats face what has become another must-win situation when they play Cranston West at Cranston Stadium Friday night at 7. The game is basically an elimination contest for 2-3 Portsmouth.

The likewise 2-3 Falcons, coming off a 28-21 loss to LaSalle, are just about done in terms of the qualifying for the playoffs. Their three losses have come to E.P., Hendricken and Rams. A win over the Pats keeps them on postseason life-support, though only temporarily. West plays Rogers and Barrington in its final two league games, needing to win out and receive even more help than that needed by Portsmouth.

In Tiverton Saturday morning, Oct. 31, at 10:30, Tiverton hosts Central in a key Division Three encounter. The 3-2 Tigers, 39-13 winners over Smithfield last week, can separate themselves from the middle of the pack with a win over the 2-3 Knights, 27-8 losers to Moses Brown a week ago.

Ponaganset sets the D-Three pace at 5-0. Johnston sits in second at 4-1 followed by Moses Brown at 4-2. Mt. Pleasant, with a bye this week before taking on Central next, sits a spot behind the Tigers at 3-3.