ABOVE: Fairmont running back Dakota Wiley prepares for the ball during the fourth quarter of last Friday’s game against Belle Plaine at Mahoney Field.

FAIRMONT – With Week 7 quickly approaching, coaches and players in the area are gearing up for their final handful of games of the regular season, using these last chances to further prepare for a hopeful run in the upcoming postseason.

This is the same mindset for Fairmont High School football head coach Mat Mahoney, who aims to see his team inch closer and closer to achieving its full potential. Mahoney calls this, “Playing Fairmont football.”

This entails a balanced offense between quarterback Joe Long and running backs Dakota Wiley and Ty Tumbleson. On the other side of the ball, Mahoney knows his defense is at their best when individuals stay in their respective areas while aggressively establishing a line of scrimmage.

“I think the biggest thing right now is that we just have to continue to focus on ourselves,” Mahoney said. “We are going into week seven now, and I think we are getting closer to our identity and what we need to do to be successful.”

Fairmont’s last contest against Belle Plaine showed some signs of playing a complete game of football this past Friday night. In the 35-0 victory, the Cardinals’ defense held the Tigers to under 100 yards from scrimmage and just a handful of first downs.

Offensively, despite losing a fumble on the 1-yard line in the early stages of the second quarter, Fairmont manufactured 35 points, utilizing a handful of long-lasting drives with a balanced attack that featured both running and passing plays.

“It was huge just getting that Homecoming win with all the distractions,” Mahoney said. “I thought our guys played pretty well.”

Now the next test for the Cardinals will be this Friday against Tri-City United (1-5) in Montgomery, continuing the team’s string of road games late in the season.

The Titans are coming off a 28-22 win against New Ulm last week and are looking to keep their season momentum going after Mahoney called their year a constant improvement game in and game out.

Offensively, TCU is looking to throw some different and unique formations at any opponent they face. Mahoney expects to see a lot of wingback looks against his Cardinal defense, using jet sweeps, motions, and all forms of misdirection to slowly manufacture long possessions.

“They do some unique stuff that we don’t see week in and week out,” Mahoney said. “But they know how to grind out [possessions] and get first downs. So, their offense is on the field … When you can do that, you are obviously winning football games. You can control the clock, you can control the tempo, you are setting the tone for everything.”

Quarterback Kellen Jirik commands the Titans’ backfield with running backs Toren Kelly and Nathan Blaschko, both representing threats in a running and passing attack depending on formation.

Parker O’Malley is another name to watch out for in the wingback position, posing as one of the main targets down the field for Jirik and his TCU offense.

“They do a little bit of mixing and matching [offensively],” Mahoney said. “But they are kind of old school… When you run, run, run, and do all of this, they [Tri-City United] suck you in and try to take a shot.”

On the other side of the ball, expect the Titans to line up in a 4-4 defensive scheme with a wide variety of different mixes and matches with their back-end players, depending on the offense’s formation.

What Mahoney wants to see from his offense is a consistent attack in establishing the line of scrimmage. Not only will this set up the classic Cardinal run style of play, but it will also allow Long to create some potentially big plays down the field, similar to what he has done all season.

Kickoff for this Big South Conference matchup starts at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Tri-City United High School stadium.