The St. Aloysius Flashes will make their longest trip of the season tonight when they head to Noxapater in south Winston County in a Region 3-1A contest.

The Flashes (1-4, 1-2) ended a four-game losing streak by blasting South Leake 35-0 last week at Balzli Field.

Noxapater (5-0, 2-0) will present a much tougher challenge says St. Al coach Jim Taylor.

&#8221They look real good and they remind me a lot of Lake and that wasn’t a very good experience for us,“ Taylor said of the Flashes’ last road game, a 33-0 loss to Lake. &#8221They have some good running backs, a big fullback and a big tight end who they like to throw to.“

Noxapater operates out of the I-formation and has averaged 38 points per game this season.

Defensively, the Flashes will have to contend with a Tiger unit that likes to crowd the line of scrimmage.

&#8221They play a 4-4 but they are real aggressive in it. We saw several times where all 11 men were within four yards of the line of scrimmage,“ Taylor said.

The win over South Leake, however, has done a lot to renew the spirit of the Flashes.

&#8221Yeah, the spirit has been good and we’ve had some pretty fair practices,“ Taylor said.

The key for the Flashes’ offense is tailback Alex Halinksi who has rushed for 515 yards and six touchdowns this season. Taylor credits an improved offensive line.

&#8221We have some good sessions with our blocking, including a 1-on-1 drill Wednesday. I think our line has made progress,“ Taylor said.

St. Al has also firmed up its linebacking corp with New Orleans evacuees Noah Slater and John Buchman firmly entrenched, joining Chip Donald and Balinski in the split-four alignment.

Chris Baer, the third former New Orleans Brother Martin player, will remain in a rotation at quarterback with Daniel Halinski.