Friday night brought a close to some teams’ seasons and opened the door for many others.

While Vicksburg and Warren Central were beating each other up and down Memorial Stadium, two other Warren County teams finished plans for the playoffs.

St. Aloysius (8-3) stamped its ticket to the Gulf Coast with a convincing 35-14 win over Pisgah. The Flashes will battle the 10-1 Mercy Cross Crusaders on Friday night at 7 in Biloxi.

This will be the last season for Mercy Cross before the merge into the larger St. Patrick’s High School next school year.

&#8220We knew we hadn’t been to the playoffs in a while. We worked really hard throughout the offseason and through the season,” said St. Al quarterback Chris Lewis, who ran for two scores and threw for another in the Pisgah win.

Mercy Cross brings one of the most prolific offenses in Class 1A, averaging 42 points per game. The Crusaders’ lone loss came to No. 5 Mount Olive, 45-31.

And speaking of offense, less than 24 hours after coaching what he called the best high school game he has ever seen, Porters Chapel Academy coach Randy Wright is still trying to get a grasp on everything that happened during Friday night’s 42-41 win over Trinity Episcopal.

&#8220It was absolutely incredible,” Wright said Saturday afternoon. &#8220The Ridley kid is as good as advertised.

&#8220Hayden Hales was unreal too with the things he was able to do.”

Hales, the Eagles’ senior quarterback, completed 10 of 20 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns, ran the ball 18 times for 170 yards and two scores and returned two kicks for 42 yards giving him 541 total yards.

Trinity’s Stevan Ridley, an LSU commitment, rushed 43 times for 385 yards and four TDs, completed 4 of 10 passes for 127 yards and two scores and had 57 return yards for 569 combined yards.

Porters Chapel fell behind 14-0, then scored 28 unanswered points to take a 28-14 lead. Trinity tied the game at 28 before PCA took a 35-28 lead in the fourth quarter. Trinity scored on their next two possessions for a 41-35 lead. Cody Ferguson blocked the extra point and the Eagles got the ball back with 1 minute, 15 seconds to play.

Hales connected with Cole Smith on a 55-yard pass to the Trinity 2 and Hales barreled in for a 2-yard touchdown on the next play.

PCA (8-3) will now shift focus to Central Private, a team that dismatled the Eagles 29-0 in the second game of the season.

On that trip, the PCA charter bus to Baton Rouge did not have air conditioning as the temperatures soared near 100 degrees. The team had to travel to Centreville and wait more than an hour for a replacement bus.

The driver of the second bus then got lost trying to find the school and the Eagles did not arrive at the stadium until 6:30 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

&#8220We had guys getting their ankles wrapped during the national anthem,” Wright said.

Wright believes this Friday night’s game will be different.

&#8220We anticipate being more prepared than we were the first time,” Wright said. &#8220They are a very good team. They have an outstanding running back, a good quarterback and they are physical up front.”

Several other teams from the area will be continuing their playoff marches next week.