The most important game is always the next game, Kingsbury football coach Duron Sutton says, and the Falcons know how important a victory over the Fairley Bulldogs tonight at the Fairgrounds will be.

Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal

Gabriel Hunter is the player who makes Kingsbury's offense go. The junior has already topped the 1,000-yard in just six games, while scoring 13 touchdowns. The Falcons take on Fairley tonight.

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"It all comes down to us getting a good seeding for the playoffs," Sutton said. "A win and we are looking pretty good for the playoffs."

Kingsbury (4-2, 2-0 in Region 8-4A) has already defeated Melrose, 14-13, putting the Falcons that much closer to the being in the driver's seat in the region.

"We're trying to get home-field advantage," Sutton said.

The Falcons' run-first, pass-later philosophy has been working well behind running back Gabriel Hunter, who has 13 touchdowns on the year.

Hunter, a 5-10, 180-pound junior, has 1,061 rushing yards in six games, picking up 205 last week in a 34-21 win at Germantown. Two of his 26 carries went for touchdowns. It was Hunter's second career 200-yard game.

"He's a blessed athlete," Sutton said. "He does a lot of things that we don't coach him to do. His cuts and moves are un-coachable, intangibles of a great running back."

Hunter knows he's not alone out there.

"I can't do it without my offensive line," said Hunter, who has also scored 13 touchdowns and on nine two-point conversions. "Each game Coach sets a goal for our offensive line to reach and last week it was 200 yards."

Kingsbury averages 353.5 yards a game, 262 of which come on the ground.

With so much at stake, Kingsbury know that victory this week won't comes easy. Fairley (4-2, 2-0), ranked No. 11 in The Commercial Appeal Dandy Dozen, has numerous returners from a year ago, including WR/DB Deangelo Anderson who has scored on six of his 12 receptions.

"We expect those guys to be up for the challenge," Sutton said. "They have a loaded team, and they match up well. We must continue to execute our game plan, minimize mistakes, and continue to work and get better at what we do."

The Bulldogs gave No. 1 White Station a scare last week going ahead 7-0 early, before losing, 28-19.

The Bulldogs picked off Spartans' quarterback Jeff Link twice.

"Just as last week was tough, this is going to be another game like that," said Fairley coach Rahnmann Slocum. "We have a lot on our hands."

Slocum said he knew this game was going to be big months before the season started.

"During the summer both teams participated in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes program where we scrimmage other teams," he said. "You could see it in their eyes that they were ready. I told my coaches then it was going to be a game."

The game for the Bulldogs will be how they defend Hunter.

"We're going to try to bring everything, but the kitchen sink," Slocum said. "We've got to contain him, because he is a great running back."

"We have a great challenge ahead of us, but we're ready for it. I know my guys will step up for the challenge."