Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont flag football's Alissa Moore (middle) gets swarmed by teammates after scoring a touchdown in the second half against Austin on Sunday afternoon.

FAIRMONT – Any thoughts of off-season rust for the 2026 Fairmont flag football team were out the window immediately, specifically, on the fourth play from scrimmage.

Cardinal quarterback Audrina Suckow scanned the entirety of the field before flicking the ball to a screeching Alissa Moore down the right sideline. Moore made a couple of nifty moves past some Austin jerseys before finally being stopped short of the goal line. While it took two more plays for the Suckow and Moore connection to find the endzone, this series showed that head coach Mat Mahoney’s team is ready to pick up where they finished last spring.

Fairmont finished Week One of the season splitting the two contests. They started the afternoon by taking down the aforementioned Packers 32-0, using a mix of high-octane play-calling and a stifling defensive secondary to get whatever they wanted on either side of the ball.

Game two showed a more competitive matchup against New Richland/Hartland/Ellendale/Geneva. The Panthers used their impressive athletic ability on the perimeter to outduel Fairmont in a down-to-the-wire contest, with a late score from Quinn Vanmaldeghem sealing the 32-21 victory.

The 1-1 record to open the season is already better than how the Cardinals began the 2025 campaign. Mahoney knows that working through both wins and losses shows his players what they can improve on going forward, and he hopes each week can highlight more areas to clean up before the postseason begins on May 31.

“In the first game, we executed really well. I think we had four interceptions. Offensively, we really moved the ball well,” Mahoney said. “Hats off to them [NRHEG] in the second game, they just had great athletes. Our girls did a great job, but there were a couple of times when we didn’t get that flag pulled. They had big plays.”

“After week one, you learn a lot leading into week two. I told the girls after the final game that we would be watching film. To show them what we can do to be even better.”

Fairmont returns to the field next Sunday at NRHEG High School. They will take on W-E-M and Austin.

Game one

Moore proved to be more than an anchor on Mahoney’s defense in game one. Last year, she earned District 4 Defensive Player of the Year honors after collecting 10 interceptions in nine games. On Sunday, she proved to be just as capable at receiver. The sophomore showed her abilities in full capacity after tallying nearly 150 yards on 10 catches and scoring three of the team’s five touchdowns.

Suckow finished the game with excellent numbers across the board. Completing passes at a 72% clip, Suckow manufactured 205 yards through the air while completing four touchdown throws. Her only blemish was an interception thrown in the second half.

Fairmont quickly doubled its lead after the opening Moore score. Aided by an interception from Leamonie Wilson at midfield, Adriana Leiding got into rhythm after catching a crossing route for a 10-yard score. It was this style of complimentary football that fueled the Cardinals all afternoon long.

Another defensive interception, this time from Moore, set up Fairmont for a chance to add to its lead before halftime. Center Kate Hagen wiggled free from the line of scrimmage on a third and 10, leaking to the left side before Suckow connected with an easy pitch and catch in the endzone. Hagen added one more on the PAT to give her team a 19-0 advantage at the break.

Leiding and Hagan each had five catches and a score to show for their efforts, securing 44 and 27 yards to offset Moore’s big day.

Moore scored two more times on Fairmont’s three second-half possessions to cap off her outstanding performance. Chloe Darnell and Wilson combined for the Cardinals’ fourth and final interception. Wilson and Moore each had two pick-offs to lead the secondary.

Game two

It only took a handful of snaps to realize Fairmont’s game two matchup against NRHEG would be a little different. On the Panthers’ first play of the game, Vanmaldeghem caught a stretch of green grass on a wide receiver reverse that took her to the endzone untouched.

Vanmaldeghem set up the NRHEG offense again after quarterback Gabby Schlaak found her favorite target for a deep post over the middle. Schlaak connected with Vanmaldeghem one more time on the three-yard line to push the advantage further. A 13-0 lead formed just like that.

While not as lightning fast as the Panthers, Suckow led the Fairmont offense to a methodical, eight-play scoring drive on the next possession. This drive included two fourth-down conversions to sustain momentum, with the second ending in a score from Moore over the middle. It was Suckow’s first of three touchdown passes.

Mahoney’s defense slowly but surely made adjustments to the offensive firepower of NRHEG. Much of this was because of the increased discipline in the secondary, countering the speed with better coverage in the back end.

After securing consecutive stops, Fairmont struck once more before the halftime break. Suckow connected with Leiding over the middle, who used some quickness of her own to glide down to the four-yard line. The next play, it was Hagen again, squeaking out of the backfield for a quick dump off and score. Mahoney’s team had a lead for the first time all game, walking into the intermission up 14-13.

“We started the game down 13-0, and the girls never folded,” Mahoney said.

The Panthers came out of the break executing highly on both sides of the ball. They used back-to-back Fairmont punts to generate two more scores from Vanmaldeghem to take back the lead, 25-14. The second touchdown from the speedy receiver was from another reverse play similar to the game’s opening drive.

It was Leiding who continued to spark the Fairmont offense in game two. She caught the first and last passes of the following drive, scoring on a Suckow checkdown found her streaking near the middle of the field. Through quick feet and some spin moves, Leiding crossed the goalline to bring the Cardinals down one possession.

This was it for Fairmont’s offense, however. The Cardinal defense picked up a handful of big third-down stops to keep the score locked, thanks to the help of Maya Earhart, who was all over the Panthers’ weapons in the second half.

With 1:19 left in the game, Mahoney strung out his defense one more time in hopes of getting another crucial stop. The unit forced a 4th-and-15 with just under a minute to go. But it all faded in an instant. Vanmaldeghem completed her day with another explosive score to put the game in the record books, getting another ball reversal on the left side before shifting to the open middle field. A simple PAT execution put the contest out of reach one play later.