What goes around comes around.

At least the Mars football team hopes it does in this instance.

Last season, the Planets traveled to Mohawk in the regular season finale and suffered a 21-14 defeat.

The victory allowed Mohawk to grab a share of the Tri-County North Conference title.

This year, Mars would earn a piece of that title if it defeats the Warriors on Friday night.

Kickoff will be 7:30 p.m. at Mohawk Stadium.

Mars clinched a playoff spot with last week's 34-6 romp over Summit Academy.

"We want to stay in the race for a home playoff game," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer.

The Warriors (5-3, 4-3) have been eliminated from making the playoffs as one of the top three teams in the conference. But they still have a slim chance of gaining the one wildcard spot.

Also up for that postseason berth are a host of teams, which includes Riverside, Freeport, Burrell, Beaver, Steel Valley, South Fayette and South Park.

In short, this could be the Warriors last game of 2006, regardless of the outcome.

"I'm just hoping that our seniors play with urgency, passion and pride," said Mohawk coach Jason Long. "For a lot of them, this could be the last time they put on the pads."

Conference losses to Summit Academy, Laurel and last week to Shenango (35-14) are responsible for Mohawk's current situation.

"It's been pretty disappointing," said Long. "We let a couple of wins get away. And it's frustrating because we've had a lot of injuries."

One of those injuries came early in the season to junior quarterback Chase Frederick. Another injury to Frederick's backup forced freshman signal caller Seth Powell under center.

"I think he's done some pretty good things," said Long of Powell. "I don't think people understand how difficult it is to come in to varsity and play quarterback as a freshman.

"As a 14-year old, I think he's done well."

Frederick did return to play in last week's game, but Long isn't committing to either quarterback entering Friday's contest.

The Warriors are primarily a running team and hope to get the most out of senior running back Brandon Van Tassel, who has also been hampered by injuries. He has rushed for about 700 yards this season.

The Warriors question marks on offense may overshadow the team's task on defense, but it's a big one.

Long believes his team has played well against the run this year.

"But we haven't faced a team with a set of running backs like Mars has," he added.

The Planets have received 1,962 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns combined from junior fullback Bill Bair and senior wingback Josh Keil.

"Both of those guys are extremely talented," Long said. "And they have a quarterback in D.J. Cannon who can throw the ball and that just makes them more difficult to defend."

Cannon has thrown for 890 yards through eight games and has tallied eight touchdown passes against just two interceptions.

The Planets (7-1, 6-1) are tied for first place in the conference with Shenango and Laurel, who play each other this week.

If the Planets and Spartans both win, they'll share the conference title. But Mars would get the higher seed in the upcoming playoffs by virtue of a 32-20 win over Laurel in the season-opener.

However, if Shenango matches a Mars victory, the Planets will take a share of the conference crown but will also get a lower seed because of a 41-35 loss to the Wildcats on Sept. 15, Mars' only loss this season.

"We haven't beaten Mohawk in the last two years and that's a concern," said Heinauer.

In 2004, Mohawk knocked the Planets out of playoff contention with a 14-7 win in the last game of the season.