EAST PROVIDENCE — Confirmed by both sides, the East Providence High School and LaSalle Academy football teams will contest their Division I playoff game Friday evening, Nov. 20, in Providence at Cimini Stadium, the home field of the Rams, rather than on Thanksgiving Day at Pierce Stadium in city.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The winner advances to the D-I Super Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 5, to face the winner of the other semifinal encounter being played Friday between five-time reigning state champ and unbeaten Bishop Hendricken (8-0) and fourth-seeded South Kingstown (5-3).

It took just two seasons under the Interscholastic League's revamped playoff schedule for historic rivals East Providence and LaSalle to be pitted against each other in the Division I football state championship tournament.

The Townies have so far enjoyed a bounce-back season in 2015, compiling a 5-3 record in league games and earning their first playoff appearance since 2011.

For the Rams, it was another superb regular season. LaSalle finished with a 7-1 mark in D-I, its only loss coming in a showdown against Hendricken two weeks ago. The Rams turned the ball over eight times in what turned out to be a 53-23 setback to the Hawks.

"We need to get better as a team," said LaSalle head coach Geoff Marcone. "We stubbed our toe against Hendricken. They really took it to us, but we weren't playing well the week before against Portsmouth (41-13 win) either. Right now, we need to get back to playing like we were at the beginning of the season."

The Rams count three city residents as key contributors this fall. Senior Jace Pena is a three-year starter as quarterback. Junior Mike A'Vant is in his second year as a starter at cornerback on defense where he is joined by classmate Jermaine Monteiro, a starter at middle linebacker.

Each helped out in some way back on October 10 when LaSalle handed East Providence a 41-14 loss in the team's regular season league meeting at Pierce.

"We played really well that night. But they've gotten a lot better," Coach Marcone said of the first meeting and of the Townies since that game. "By no means do we think the score is going to be the same. (EPHS head coach) Jay (Monteiro) has done a fantastic job of making his kids believe in what they're doing and moving forward. It's impressive what he's done in only his second year. And they've basically been playing playoff games the last few weeks. It's going to be tight."

Coach Marcone is correct in his assessment of the Townies, who have gained plenty of traction over the second half of the season as they embarked on their run to the playoffs. E.P. started the year at 1-3 following losses to the Rams, Hendricken and Portsmouth sandwiched around a win over Cumberland during the first month of the schedule.

The Townies have won four in a row since, included among thoses victories were an impressive 29-0 decision over South Kingstown and a gutsy 20-15 road win over Cranston West on October 29 which sealed their spot in the postseason.

Another local link at LaSalle is offensive coordinator Steve Silva Jr., the former All-State and Super Bowl winning running back for the Townies. Silva joined the Rams staff last fall, eventually taking over the playing calling duties from Coach Marcone midway through the 2014 season.

"We think very similarly, so I was comfortable giving up the play calling to Steve. It allowed me to focus more on the other aspects of the game," Coach Marcone added. "He's done a great job for us. He's really one of the big reasons why we are where we are this year."

The Rams and Townies are facing the fact of playing three times in one season, a chance happening that became a possibility two years ago when the Interscholastic League revised the football playoffs in the name mostly of player safety. Officials wanted to avoid teams playing on Thanksgiving, the following Tuesday in the semifinals and then the Super Bowl the next weekend.

East Providence and LaSalle were among only a handful of programs whose Thanksgiving Day game was a league contest. That game went from being a league affair to non-league and one often of significance to somewhat meaningless despite its great tradition. The past two seasons, the Townies and Rams have played the game that counts in the D-I standings during the first month of the schedule.

"The system is flawed. Both schools were worried there would be a year when we would have to play three times. It didn't happen last year, but we knew it was only a matter of time before a program like E.P., with its history and tradition of winning, would be back to being a playoff team," Coach Marcone said.

On the decision to host the game in Providence rather than contest Thanksgiving as the playoff encounter, an option open to LaSalle via the new set-up, Coach Marcone said it wasn't a very hard one to make considering what was and is at stake.

"When we start the year we tell our kids we have four goals. The first is to make the playoffs, the second is to host a playoff game, the third is to win the division and the highest is to win the championship," Coach Marcone added. "I would have had a hard time telling my guys that despite our goals we're going to get on a bus and go play our playoff game in East Providence. How is that fair to them? Our kids worked really hard to get this, and I think they deserve to play this game on their home field in front of our fans."

And barring any unforeseen circumstances, the 87th edition of the East Providence-LaSalle Thanksgiving Day football game will take place Thursday morning, Nov. 26 at 10 at Pierce Stadium. The Townies are the designated home team for the contest, which the Rams have won the last eight times it has been played, and keep all of the proceeds from ticket sales. LaSalle enjoys the same set-up when the Rams are the "home" team at Pierce on Thanksgiving.

"As far as I know we're prepared to play on Thanksgiving Day as scheduled," Coach Marcone said. "We will be there ready to play regardless of what happens Friday night, whether we win or lose."

From East Providence's perspective, the decision to play the game Friday instead of on Thanksgiving is "disappointing," according to Athletic Director Bob Duarte, though understandable in some way.

"If the game was on Thanksgiving, I think that would have been a huge event, but the League left the door open to this happening when they changed the system," Mr. Duarte said. "And if it was played on Thanksgiving, we would have worked on financial details of sharing the gate, but LaSalle wanted to keep the (playoff) game at home in Providence."