BILLINGS — Last year, the Fairview football team knew one thing about its opponent each week: "You're going to have to be pretty dang good to beat us."
This year? It's a bit different. More like: "We're going to have to be pretty dang good to beat you."
Yet on the edge of eastern Montana, the No. 1-ranked defending 8-Man state champions have taken down all comers this season — including a big 29-24 road win in a matchup against league rival and No. 3-ranked Circle last week — and the 6-0 Warriors have their eyes on a second consecutive title.
But nothing is written in stone. Just ask them.
"We feel there is a lot of room for improvement," said senior tight end and linebacker Deacon Gackle. "After watching that (Circle) game (Monday) night on film, we kind of decided that we need to focus a lot more in practice and improve a lot more in the coming weeks if we want to be a championship contending team.
"I don't think we're a championship contending team right now."
That may come as a surprise, considering the Warriors just beat one of the state's top teams and are riding an 18-game winning streak. But the 8-Man playoffs will be as tough as they've always been, with No. 2 Belt (6-0), No. 3 Valley Christian (6-0), No. 6 Drummond-Philipsburg (6-0), No. 7 Manhattan Christian (5-0) and a host of other one-loss contenders in the mix.
The one thing the Warriors will always do is rely on their foundational principles to carry them through.
"You have all the sayings, you know, 'Day by day' and '1-0 every day,' but how many people actually teach it and actually practice it?" said Derek Gackle, Deacon's dad and Fairview's coach now in his second stint with the program.
"We take time teaching what all of that actually means. If we see something on film we rewind it, we say, 'This is what it doesn't look like; this is what it should look like. This is how we act.' It's a big deal here. We're trying to raise young men in our program, and I just feel this is one of the things we spend the most time on."
Mental toughness, Derek Gackle said, is the main focus point for the Fairview team. And the Warriors used it to their advantage last week against Circle simply by staying the course.
Circle was on the doorstep of a go-ahead touchdown with about six minutes left but coughed up a fumble that Fairview recovered. Two plays later the Warriors' Tyler Loan was off and running on a 75-yard TD for the all-important two-possession lead.
Circle eventually scored a late touchdown to pull back within five points but Fairview held on for the win to pass a big road test.
"It was an impressive night and great for our kids to have a little adversity," said Derek Gackle, whose team faces 4-2 Scobey this week. "We need these types of games to get ready for the playoffs and our kids responded well. We didn't get down and just kept playing hard.
"There was never really any concern or tension, like, 'Oh no, we've got to do something right now.' It was just, keep doing what we're doing and keep playing hard and the scoreboard will take care of itself."
Fairview graduated seven seniors from last year's championship team, which beat Belt 40-28 in the 8-Man title game. But a new crop of fourth-year guys has emerged.
Loan is one of them at quarterback. Through six games, Loan has thrown for 826 yards, 15 touchdowns and just one interception. On the ground, he's the team's leading rusher with 570 yards and 10 more scores.
"We know what he can do," Deacon Gackle said of Loan. "That's what we expect of him. And once he gets out in the open field, good luck tackling him. He's so shifty and he'll outrun you."
Meanwhile, Gackle's 50 total tackles (including seven for loss) lead the defense, and he's also caught six touchdowns from his tight end position.
Wyatt McPherson has rushed for seven touchdown and caught two others. And lineman Brody Bushnell is a key factor up front on both sides of the ball.
Winning a state championship was a major achievement for these players last season, but now that they've assumed greater leadership roles they take it to heart that winning another one will be up to them. That's where Fairview's focus on mental toughness comes in.
With Belt and Valley Christian and Drummond-Philipsburg and Manhattan Christian and the other contenders looming in the playoffs, the Warriors know they'll have to be pretty dang good to beat any one of them.
"Our big thing is attitude and effort all day long," Derek Gackle said. "Looking across the state, it looks like other teams have gotten better. So It'll be a battle. It's a tip of the cap to what 8-Man coaches are doing across the state. The depth of competition is pretty impressive."
Now Fairview just hopes to keep it rolling.
