DANVERS — Wednesday night – yes, Wednesday this year – under the bright lights at Gillette Stadium, two bitter rivals square off for all the bragging rights.

No. 1 St. John’s Prep (11-1) faces off against No. 2 Xaverian (10-2) for the second time in less than a week. This time, at 8 p.m. instead of the early 10 a.m. holiday time.

The two powerhouses squared off in their annual Thanksgiving game with Xaverian beating Prep, 23-21, on a game-winning 29-yard field goal from Luke Bell.

The loss ended Prep’s hopes of an undefeated season. It also meant the schools shared the Catholic Conference title.

Who knows if either team pulled any punches last Thursday?

That said, the Prep Eagles have to feel good about their chances, knowing it took a game-winning field goal from the home team to beat them.

Throughout the fall, Prep beat nine of its 11 opponents by 20 or more points. Its high-powered offense is led by a consistent quarterback in Deacon Robillard, head-first running back Cam LaGrassa, and reliable tight end Mason McSweeney.

But the one thing that’s different about this year’s Eagles: they aren’t star-dependent.

After their 35-7 tournament win against Andover two Fridays ago, St. Pierre described his squad as a “hardworking team” with only a couple of standout stars.

“Mason McSweeney and Matt Callahan are stars, but they’re not the flashy type,” St. Pierre said. “We have a bunch of hardworking, tough guys. A lot of guys contributed all year.”

Prep can beat you in more than one way, too. Just because the Eagles do something particular, doesn’t mean St. Pierre and his staff aren’t looking at different schemes for the next game.

For example, at practice after beating BC High, St. Pierre started to use Lynn’s Edwin Castro in the backfield. In the following semifinal matchup against Andover, Castro, who didn’t run the ball once all season, ran for two touchdowns.

Castro is involved in all three phases of the game and, after the Catholic Memorial win, St. Pierre praised the work ethic of the former Lynn English Bulldog.

“He’s worked really hard and has gotten better each week,” St. Pierre said. “He’s really solidified that corner spot for us.”

On defense, both McSweeney and Callahan have to be accounted for at all times. Even if you avoid their edge-rushing abilities, you have to find a way to throw the ball past Anthony Bechalany and Lynn’s Marquese Avery.

Bechalany is another player who has stepped up in the playoffs, looking to end his high school career with another state ring.

“He’s playing the most snaps he’s ever played in his career the last two weeks,” St. Pierre said after Bechalany’s interception against Andover. “We’re just searching for guys to step up, and we’re not afraid to put guys in positions that we think can help us. He did a good job.”

Now, the other Eagles.

Against Prep last week, Xaverian received a strong performance from running back Mike O’Connor, who had 143 rushing yards at halftime.

Xaverian is also led by Henry Hasselbeck, a Michigan State commit and son of former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Not only can the gunslinger do it with his arm, but he showed against Prep that he’s a capable runner (52-yard burst in the third quarter).

With everything to play for, Prep looks to prove why it’s the No. 1 seed, while Xaverian hopes last week’s history repeats itself.