For five long, agonizing weeks, DeMichael Harris sat on St. Aloysius’ sideline with a sore ankle and a bit of frustration as his team’s season seemed to be heading south.

It’s safe to say the beast has not only been unleashed, he’s tearing up the town.

Harris tied a school record with five rushing touchdowns Friday night to lead the Flashes to a 55-17 win over Central Hinds that kept their district championship hopes alive.

Harris missed all or part of five games after rolling his ankle in Week 2 against Pisgah. In three games since returning to the lineup, he’s run for more than 600 yards and 11 touchdowns. Not coincidentally, St. Al has won two of the three games.

“It just seems like he’s peaking at the right time. I’ve had some good running backs in the last eight years that I’ve been here. Not to take anything away from those other guys, but he’s right there at the top,” St. Al coach BJ Smithhart said.

Connor Bottin also scored a touchdown for St. Al, as did fullback Josh Price. Price also blocked a punt that was recovered by Landon Middleton and returned for a score.

The win put St. Al (3-6, 3-0 District 3-AAA) in position to claim the District 3-AAA championship by beating Riverfield (6-2, 3-0) at home in next week’s regular-season finale. Riverfield is the defending district champion.

Smithhart knows it won’t be easy, but believes everything is coming together at the right time for the Flashes. They battled a rash of injuries over the first half of the season and finally have nearly every key starter back for the stretch run.

“It’s probably the healthiest we’ve been since Week 1, as a whole,” Smithhart said. “If you had to pick a time to get healthy, the end of the year is where you want it.”

Tallulah 56, Park Place 26

Mason Todd ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns, Ryan Hodge added 152 yards and one score — on 14 combined carries — and Tallulah Academy (7-1) won its third straight game by beating Park Place (2-6).

Todd, Tallulah’s quarterback, also completed 6 of 9 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Dakota Cone caught a 67-yard TD pass, and Brice Wood a 6-yarder.