Flashes face rival Green Wave|Prep football
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 14, 2009
It’s not only a bitter rivalry, it’s also an elimination game.
When St. Aloysius and Cathedral renew their rivalry Thursday night in Natchez, the winner will remain alive in the race for one of the playoff spots out of Division 4-1A.
On the radio
7 p.m. Thursday 104.5 FM
St. Aloysius at Cathedral
Cathedral (1-5 overall) and St. Al (4-3 overall) have identical 1-2 records in division play. A defeat would almost certainly knock the loser out of the running with Sebastapol and Mount Olive tied at the top of the division at 3-0, Dexter a game back at 3-1 and Bogue Chitto at 2-1.
Both Dexter and Bogue Chitto have a tiebreaker on St. Al should it come down to that by virtue of having beaten the Flashes.
And there’s the whole matter of the old rivalry between the schools. Kids grow up in either town wearing either green or purple ready to make their own mark in the rivalry.
“It’s a very exciting, very intense game,” senior wide receiver Blake Haygood said. “We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a key game for us. We can’t afford to lose another district game.”
St. Al comes into the Cathedral game with a swell of confidence after blasting division foe Salem 34-0 last week. Offensively, Carlton Campbell rushed for two scores and Haygood caught nine passes for 127 yards and a touchdown in his first start of the season. Quarterback Regan Nosser had one of his best outings of the season, completing 13 of 22 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said that he wants more offensive balance like in the Salem win.
“We know that we’ve got to mix it up to be successful and I’ve got to do a better job of that,” Smithhart said. “Last game was really the only time we’ve had any balance. We can’t run it every time, we can’t throw it every time. We want to show them a lot of different looks and get them on their heels a little bit.”
They will be going against Cathedral team that despite a 1-5 record, has been in every game so far this season. Like St. Al, they are coming off a big win, a 35-14 victory over West Lincoln.
In many ways, the Green Wave are very similar to St. Al offensively. Wide receiver Daniel Huffines has 18 grabs for 272 yards and two touchdowns from two different quarterbacks, but the running game has not been super productive for Cathedral this season.
Smithhart said Cathedral is a difficult team to prepare with its myriad of formations and ability to meld disparate bits into a cohesive offensive attack.
“They use everything from the option to spreading you out and doing a lot of screens,” Smithhart said. “They’re really well-coached, probably the best-coached team we’ll face this year.”
The keys for a St. Al victory will be simple. With a strong chance of rain before kickoff, the Flashes have been preparing with a wet ball for less than ideal conditions.
“Ball security and assignments,” Smithhart said of his two keys for victory. “The one that turns it over the most is the team that’s not going to win. It’s probably going to be wet, there’s going to be a lot of emotion. It’ll be the team that stays calm that’s going to win.”
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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com