You can't get more cut and dry than this.

When Mohawk takes the field at Mars Friday night, the playoffs are on the line for both teams in the final game of Tri-County North play.

The winner will move on to the WPIAL Class AA postseason field, while the loser goes home.

It's not an unusual situation for either team. In fact, both the Warriors and Planets were in the same predicament last year, with different results.

Mohawk's playoff hopes were dashed with a loss to Shenango in the conference finale last season, while Mars beat Deer Lakes to make the postseason from the Allegheny Conference.

The Planets (4-4, 4-2) are coming off consecutive wins over Shenango (18-7) and Riverside (26-20). But coach Scott Heinauer believes his team's best days are still to come.

"I still don't think we've played a complete game of football yet," he said.

Mohawk (4-4, 4-2) started the season 1-3, but has reeled off three victories in its last four games, including a 36-30 triumph over Neshannock last week.

"We had a massive amount of injuries," said Mohawk coach Jason Long. "But some of those kids are starting to come back and we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves."

Most of the game's yards will be gained on the ground.

Mars' Paul Ferrese (1,086 rushing yards) and Mohawk's Jesse D'Amico (768) are clearly the focal point of their respective offenses.

D'Amico has rushed for 467 yards in the last two weeks.

"He is probably the best back we've faced this year," said Heinauer of D'Amico. "He is their workhorse."

"Their overall team speed is what stands out the most," said Long of the Planets. "We've held our own against the run this season, though we haven't been as successful as I would have liked."

Mohawk's starting quarterback, Gary Pezzoulo, received the job four weeks ago when incumbent, Josh Crum, injured his hand in a wood shop accident.

"(Pezzoulo) is an average thrower but an excellent runner," said Heinauer.

Maybe that's because Pezzoulo's natural position is running back.

"Our other quarterbacks were injured," said Long. "So we figured we'd give Gary a shot."

Mars wingback Dave Pisarcik scored his first two touchdowns of the season last week (one rushing and one receiving).

He enters Friday's game as the Planets' second-leading rusher with 236 yards and has also grabbed seven passes for 60 yards.

"There's no doubt that Dave has been playing better and better," said Heinauer. "He has thrown a lot of blocks to spring Ferrese this season. And when he has the ball, you either tackle him or he'll run you over. Any coach loves a player like that."

Mars center Brian Juda sustained a knee injury two weeks ago and his status remains up in the air.

If Juda is unable to go, he will be replaced by senior Nick Leonhard.

Mohawk will grab the second spot in the conference just by winning, whereas Mars would need help to improve its playoff seeding.

The Planets can finish second in the conference with a win and a Union-New Castle win over Neshannock.