It didn’t take long for St. Aloysius to get into a sticky situation.

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7 p.m. Friday, 104.5 FM

St. Aloysius at Dexter

Just one week into the Region 4-1A schedule, the Flashes (3-2, 0-1 in region play) are already facing a must-win game when they hit the road to face first-place Dexter (3-3, 2-0) Friday night. A win would keep St. Al’s hopes of a region championship and a home playoff game alive. Lose, and it’ll be trying to play catch-up as it chases any sort of playoff berth.

“That’s the way I like it, because you have to get right back up. You can’t pout about it. You go and win that game and you get the feeling that everybody comes right back,” St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said. “If we let this one get away and they go to 3-0 and we’re 0-2, they’re pretty much in and we’re fighting for a fourth seed.”

After a promising 3-1 start to the season, the Flashes fell flat last week in the region opener against Bogue Chitto. They committed four turnovers, four bad snaps that lost huge chunks of yardage, and had 96 yards of total offense in a 12-7 loss.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak and put the Flashes back at square one heading into this week’s game.

“We didn’t have a good two weeks of practice,” said St. Al quarterback Regan Nosser, who tossed two interceptions against Bogue Chitto. “A lot of it was playing around and not focusing. I don’t think we came out ready to play.”

Smithhart agreed.

“We were just flat,” he said. “Even when we got turnovers, there was no ‘here we go.’ We’re not good enough to beat anybody playing like that. If the other team is more into it than you, nine times out of 10 that team is going to win.”

A similar effort against Dexter could put St. Al even further behind.

The Bulldogs have outscored their first two region opponents, Salem and West Lincoln, 88-19. Neither is expected to finish in the top half of the region, but beating up on them has staked Dexter to an early lead in the region race. Dexter has also scored at least 26 points in four of its six games and boasts a balanced offense.

Three different players have thrown a touchdown pass, and five players have rushed for one. Chris Conerly leads the way with 378 yards and six touchdowns on the ground, and another 273 yards through the air, but has no touchdown passes this season.

Conerly also plays middle linebacker and leads the team with 61 tackles.

“They let him find the ball. On defense they just let him shoot the gaps, and on offense they just get him the ball,” Smithhart said.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com