West Point’s Alex Hernandez holds on tight to two footballs during a ball security drill in fall camp. Hernandez and the Warriors will host county-rival Fairview in a Class 5A, Region 6 game.

WEST POINT — Homecoming is here for the West Point Warriors — and so is the home stretch.

With only three region games remaining, Friday’s bout with Fairview will be just as much about playoff positioning as it will for county bragging rights.

West Point (2-3, 2-1 in Class 5A, Region 6) enters with a two-game win streak and fresh legs following a bye week. The Aggies (2-3, 0-2), meanwhile, return “home” with eyes on their first region victory just seven days after destroying Priceville 49-0 on the very same field.

The Warriors have opened up their campus to Fairview on Friday nights this season while construction creeps along at the Aggies’ Dafford Smith Stadium.

“The momentum was good, but now we’ve had a week off, so Fairview’s the one who’s coming in with momentum,” West Point coach Don Farley said. “They’ve played more games (3-2) on this field than we have. They’ve scored more points (126-52) on this field than we have. We just want to compete every play and go from there and see what happens at the end.

“They’re needing this region win, and we’re needing this region win. You throw in a county rivalry and two teams on the same field basically, and it’s set up to be a fun Friday night.”

Friday’s matchup — the first between the programs since 2013 — will feature a showdown between oft-explosive backfields. Cameron Moore has so far been one of the area’s best speedsters for the Warriors, while Logan Brooks has logged significant yards for the Aggies no matter the level of competition.

Brooks, who’s coming off a four-touchdown performance, isn’t the only Fairview player that’s caught Farley’s eye, either.

“Their offensive front gets movement on people. They throw the ball real well. They run the ball with the quarterback and their running back,” he said. “Fairview’s a very good team, and they’re going to deal us a lot of fits. That’s what you expect in a region game. If we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, if we don’t tackle and wrap their guys up, they’re going to get big plays. They’re good athletes, and that’s what good athletes do.”

West Point has some pretty good athletes of its own on defense, too. Senior Tyler Thompson spelled out what the unit needs to do in order to slow down the Aggies.

“We’ve just got to stuff ’em at the line,” the nose guard said. “Can’t let them get more than 10, 15 yards. That’s scary once they get that far. Defense has got to bow up and stop ’em.”

The Warriors have had to overcome their fair share of adversity this fall, starting 0-3 for the first time since 2011 and losing quarterback Rylan Jones to a gruesome arm injury in a 14-6 defeat at Hayden. Their fortunes have changed substantially since, though, with region wins against Springville and Corner placing them right in the thick of the playoff hunt.

“We’ve had guys stepping up in all three phases of the game,” Farley said. “It started with Noah Allison and Steven (Rodriguez) and Alex (Hernandez) in special teams. Steven and Alex have been consistent for us on kicking off and field goals. Noah’s just been outright booming punts. He’s been more consistent than we’ve had in awhile. Then, (Kolton) Easterwood had to step up after the issue with Rylan.”

Now, West Point faces the bittersweet task of balancing game preparation with one of the student body’s most exciting weeks of the year.

“Region rival, county rival, it’s not your ideal homecoming opponent as far as that goes,” Farley said. “The distractions, we’ve talked about that. With 19 seniors, we’re trying to make sure that we stay focused on what our goal is — to try and compete in a region game and keep ourselves in the mix for playoff talk.”

Playoff talk is all it is for Thompson at this point in the campaign. The Warriors only trail Mortimer Jordan (3-0) and Hayden (2-0) in the region and could all but lock up their latest postseason berth with a win this week and split versus Mortimer Jordan and Curry.

“It’s exciting to have the chance to be able to go three years in a row,” Thompson said. “But you’ve got to take it one game at a time. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, yep, beat this team you’re in the playoffs.’ You’ve got to take it one game at a time, one play at a time. Our main thought right now is just get that W on Friday.”