[10/05/02]SALEM Sloppy conditions led to sloppy play early in the St. Aloysius-Salem game Friday night.

But the Flashes utilized the mud to spring their running game for a 35-0 win to stay unbeaten in Region 4-1A.

Greg Smith led St. Al’s (6-0, 4-0) attack with 107 yards rushing and a touchdown and Chad Cox ran for 42 yards and a score and also threw for 44 yards and a touchdown.

“Greg did the bulk of the work and did a heckuva job in the mud,” Flashes coach Jim Taylor said.

It was the Flashes’ defense that provided the momentum when Walker Hengst intercepted a Wildcat pass with 6 minutes remaining in a scoreless first quarter and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 St. Al lead.

“We’re snakebit, anything we do backfires on us,” Salem (0-5, 0-3) coach Kenneth Murphy said.

The Flashes used the defensive touchdown to catch fire and drove 70 yards on their second possession to score on Smith’s 4-yard run six seconds into the second quarter for a 14-0 lead.

“Nothing fancy with the conditions like they were. We were just going to run the ball the way we could,” Taylor said. “They couldn’t stop us, we could only stop ourselves.’

Youth and penalties prevented the Wildcats from sustaining any offensive momentum, and after the interception they were forced to punt on every first-half possession.

The Flashes countered with touchdowns on three of five first-half drives, their final TD of the half coming on a 35-yard bootleg pass from Cox to a wide-open Michael Engle for a 21-0 midway through the second quarter.

The Flashes held a 162-60 lead in total offense at the half, but it was the six penalties for 35 yards and Hengst’s interception return that seemed to hurt the Wildcats more than the Flashes’ offense.

“We’re just not a good football team,” Murphy said. “Not to take anything away from St. Aloysius, but we are a ways away from being a good team.”

Both offenses started the second half sluggish as the Wildcats punted on their first possession and stopped the Flashes on a fourth-and-3.

The Flashes’ defense, however, exploded in the second half much as it did the first with three sacks in the first five minutes, helping to secure good field position at the 50-yard line on St. Al’s second possession.

Cox finished the drive on a 1-yard keeper for a 28-0 lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Flashes tacked on the final score seven minutes into the fourth quarter on a 20-yard run by Michael Head.

“It’s a good start, but it’s gonna get tougher,” said Taylor, whose team will play at defending region champion Mize next week. “I’m proud of the way we played.”