Pack your bags, Flashes, the playoffs beckon.

Sophomore quarterback Chris Lewis ran for two scores and threw another as St. Aloysius defeated Pisgah 35-14 on Friday night sending the Flashes (8-3, 7-2) to the Class 1A state playoffs for the first time since 2002.

St. Aloysius will play No. 6 Mercy Cross on Friday night at 7 p.m. on the Gulf Coast.

&#8220This is the greatest feeling,” said fullback Alex Halinski, who ran for two touchdowns to give him 18 this season. &#8220I’ve never been to the playoffs in my high school career and we are going on the backs of everyone on this team.”

St. Al reached the postseason in 2002, falling 14-0 to Puckett. The Flashes are the third seed from Region 3-1A and match up with the second-place Crusaders, who defeated Natchez Cathedral 45-28 on Friday night.

&#8220It’s a tribute to our seniors and our coaches,” St. Al coach Jim Taylor said. &#8220We’ve been working toward this since the last play last year and it’s a nice reward for our kids.

&#8220It’s going to be a challenge next week, but we welcome the opportunity.”

Lewis scored two first-half touchdowns and Halinski barreled in from 11 yards out in the second quarter as the Flashes held a 21-0 halftime lead.

The Dragons scored late in the third quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Donatello Luckett to cut the deficit to 21-6.

After getting the kick on their own 35, the Flashes responded with a 5-play, 65-yard touchdown drive capped by a 22-yard scoring pass from Lewis to senior tight end John Robert Burnett and a 28-point lead.

&#8220We all worked really hard for this,” Lewis said. &#8220We haven’t seen the playoffs for a while. It’s nice to be going.”

The Flashes came into the game having to either beat Pisgah or lose by fewer than 10 points to make the postseason, and with the playoffs locked up, St. Al chewed up most of the fourth quarter with a punishing ground attack.

St. Al ran 14 straight times, covered 58 yards and most importantly took 8 minutes, 21 seconds off the clock before Halinski plunged in for his second score of the night. Justin Hosemann ran for 29 yards on the drive, while Lewis ran for 19 yards. Halinski capped the scoring drive with a 2-yard plunge with 1:05 left in the game.

Pisgah scored on a Jarmie Smith 5-yard run on the last play of the game to knock the final margin down to 21 points.

&#8220Everyone thought that this game would be a lot closer than it was,” said Halinski, who ended the night with 87 yards on 17 carries. &#8220But we came out and got things moving and we knew we could blow it wide open.”

Luckett led Pisgah with 86 yards on 25 carres and Smith ran for 75 yards on 14 attempts.

Kickoff for the playoff game on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Biloxi.