GREENVILLE — The opening play from scrimmage in Friday’s game against Greenville-St. Joe was an omen of things to come for St. Aloysius.

Carlisle Koestler took the opening shotgun snap and the ball scudded away from him, ricocheting off his fingertips into the waiting hands of the St. Joe defense, which recovered the ball on the St. Al 20-yard line.

St. Al’s defense held firm on the ensuing drive, but from that point, the Flashes (0-2) appeared perpetually discombobulated on offense. It was the second quarter before the Flashes could get a first down and they finished with just 57 yards.

The problem was on first down. The Flashes had four plays for no gain or negative plays on four of eight first down situations, changing the playcalling options for second and third downs.

Running back Carlton Campbell was largely held in check with 11 carries for 37 yards and was stopped for no gain or thrown for a loss five times as St. Al’s line struggled to get any push in the running game.

With the Flashes in third down and long situations for much of the night, the Fighting Irish (2-0) went after Koestler with reckless abandon. The Flashes managed only three first downs in the contest and were unable to convert on six attempts on third down.

The Flashes lost two fumbles and Koestler was intercepted once.

“They bring a lot of pressure,” St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said. “We just couldn’t sustain any drives and get our defense off the field. I know it’s the same kids, but you get worn out a lot quicker on defense.”

Penalties also plagued the Flashes, 10 of them to be exact. While many were false starts and offsides, several big penalties proved especially costly. None was as costly as offsetting personal foul penalties 50 yards behind the play that took a Campbell long TD run off the board.

“I know their team was doing a lot of talking and chirping, but they weren’t getting the fouls, but that’s still on us,” Smithhart said. “We preach to them that it’s the second man who always gets flagged and we need to show some more discipline.”

Later, the Flashes were unable to take advantage of Campbell’s 76-yard kickoff return in the third quarter, down 14-0, that put them in business at the St. Joe 5-yard line. A holding penalty pushed the Flashes back and the drive ended on fourth down.

Lineman Sage Lewis went down with a high ankle sprain and his status is questionable for Friday’s game at Hinds AHS.

With the Flashes opening division play on Friday, senior lineman Robert Arledge knows that his team just needs to forget about two losses that don’t count toward the goal of the playoffs and worry about the ones that do.

“We just have to work on our mental errors,” Arledge said. “This is preseason and we’ve just got to come back next week, hit the film room and work hard.”