Over the past month, the St. Aloysius Flashes have dug out of their early-season hole and become the hottest team in the ranks of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA division.

Now comes the hard part.

The Flashes (5-6) will go on the road Friday night to face Silliman Institute (9-1) in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs. St. Al has averaged 47 points per game during its current four-game winning streak and finally resembles the team that reached the MHSAA Class 1A championship game last season, but still has a lot of work ahead to reach that level in its first year as an MAIS member.

“I think we’re still an underdog, and have more to prove with moving into this new league,” St. Al coach BJ Smithhart said. “I’m proud of the kids for hanging in there after a bad start and peaking at the right time of the year. We want to prove we belong. We’re going to go play our best and try to win.”

St. Al’s winning streak has coincided with its original starting lineup finally getting back on the field. A rash of early-season injuries put as many as nine of the team’s 11 starters on offense on the sideline at one time or another. Starting receiver Brandon Teller and lineman Cole Yearwood remain out, gone for the season with knee injuries.

The rest of the team has hobbled back, however, including running back DeMichael Harris. The senior has rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and 21 touchdowns in five games since returning from an ankle injury that cost him a month of the season.

Harris set a Warren County record with 395 rushing yards and tied a record with six rushing touchdowns in a 56-28 playoff win over Bayou Academy last week. Harris had more than 300 yards and five touchdowns in the first half alone and only carried the ball 17 times.

“I was real disappointed I missed the first half of the season, but at the same time I had to seize the opportunity. I had to make up for what I missed and help the team get back on track,” Harris said. “We just needed those pieces back, and once we got them we’re a good ball team.”

So is every other team the Flashes will face from here on.

The winner of Friday’s game will face either undefeated Adams Christian (11-0) or Leake Academy (7-4) in the semifinals next week.

Silliman won the District 5-AAA championship and hasn’t lost since Week 2. The Wildcats have only allowed 13 points in their last five games and had three consecutive shutouts in October.

“Silliman is really good,” Smithhart said. “They’re real big and physical, they have a three-year starter at quarterback and they don’t get scored on a whole lot. They’re just a good football team.”

St. Al won the District 3-AAA championship, but didn’t beat an opponent outside the district until crushing Bayou last week. St. Al was the only team to qualify for the Class AAA playoffs with a losing record.

Smithhart didn’t pay much heed to that. He was more aware than anyone that the early-season injuries combined with a difficult schedule had more to do with the team’s record than poor play.

Now, though, things are starting to come together. With a healthy Harris, improved depth created by younger players forced into action earlier in the year, and all of the other returning starters, the Flashes seem poised to keep on rolling.

“I feel like we’re better than that,” Smithhart said, referring to the team’s record. “How much better is probably going to be decided Friday night. We’ll see how bad we want it and how far we’ve come. I feel like we’re better than 5-6, but this will be a good indicator.”

St. Aloysius at Silliman

MAIS Class AAA playoffs, 2nd round

Friday, 7 p.m.

Radio: 101.3 FM

Online: For live scoring updates on Friday night, visit Facebook.com/thevicksburgpost or Twitter.com/vicksburgpost