St. Aloysius won’t actually celebrate homecoming until Oct. 3. This week, they’re just be glad to be coming home.

When the Flashes face Durant on Friday night, it’ll be their first game at Balzli Field since the season opener on Aug. 22.

They’ve done well for themselves on the road, winning three consecutive games in blowout fashion, but playing in front of a rowdy home crowd should help keep their energy level up, coach BJ Smithhart said.

“That’ll be great. There’s nothing like playing at home. I think the kids feed off that energy, and with the other schools (Warren Central and Vicksburg) off, I hope we have a big crowd,” Smithhart said.

Since losing at home to Cathedral nearly a month ago, the Flashes (3-1, 1-0 Region 2-1A) have become almost unstoppable. They’ve dispatched Pisgah, Madison-St. Joe and McAdams by a combined score of 121-42.

The blowouts have helped not only the team’s confidence, Smithhart said, but also to build some needed depth.

Seven different players had rushing attempts in last week’s 55-14 blowout of McAdams in the Region 2-1A opener. Connor Bottin and Lane Hynum scored their first varsity touchdowns, while veterans Brandon Teller and Josh Price scored their first this season.

“The JV got to play the last quarter and a half, and that’s always good for them. For them to come in and have success is really good,” Smithhart said. “There’s nothing like getting to play in a game. It makes practice better. Everybody’s excited, and the older guys are excited for the younger guys.”

With Durant (1-3, 0-1), the Flashes will face a unique challenge. Durant won 10 games each season from 2007 to 2011, but has fallen on hard times since then. It’s just 9-16 since the start of the 2012 season.

St. Al handily won last year’s meeting at Durant, 34-8.

The Tigers are coming into Friday with a three-game losing streak that has included shutout losses to Holmes County Central and Shaw in last week’s region opener.

Despite their recent struggles, Smithhart was still wary. He said the Tigers, no matter how wounded, still have plenty of weapons and are a dangerous team.

“It’s probably one of the proudest schools in Mississippi, and any time they don’t make the playoffs it’s different,” Smithhart said. “They’re improved. They’ve got some really big running backs and they run to the ball on defense. They look more physical than last year.”

Smithhart also added that games like these, against struggling programs, are the kind St. Al can ill afford to lose if it has designs on competing for the region championship.

“If you’ve got eight district games, you can’t afford to lose one you should have won,” Smithhart said. “It always seems to come back to bite you when that happens.”