The St. Aloysius Flashes came in the back door to make the MAIS Class AAA playoffs. Now that they’re here, they’re ready to kick in the front door and make some noise.

The Flashes (3-7) travel to Columbus on Friday to face District 2-AAA champion Heritage Academy (8-2) in a first-round game. St. Al qualified as a wild card and earned the No. 13 seed in the 16-team bracket, but might have played as well as anyone in Class AAA over the past three weeks.

St. Al has won three in a row, with its last two victories coming by 27 and 36 points.

“No doubt about it, we’re healthy and playing as good as we have all year,” St. Al coach BJ Smithhart said. “We have to play a good team, but this time of year we’ll take it. It’s better than the alternative, which is not playing at all.”

The Flashes appear to be peaking at the right time, which seems to be the norm for them in recent years.
St. Al won a total of three playoff games in 30 years from 1982-2012, but since 2013 is 6-3 in the postseason with one appearance in the state championship game and two in the semifinals. It has won at least one playoff game each of the past three seasons.

Several of this year’s seniors have been starters or contributors on all of those teams, which should help them deal with the difficult road ahead. For St. Al to reach the Class AAA championship game, it will have to win three consecutive road games and possibly go through undefeated Indianola Academy in the semifinals.

Smithhart knows the Flashes are an underdog, but he also knows that’s not necessarily a bad thing considering the team’s potential. St. Al has outscored its opponents 117-47 during its three-game winning streak and rushed for more than 300 yards in each game.

“Going into this thing, I always think it’s better to be the underdog,” Smithhart said. “You go in there with nothing to lose and see what happens.”

The first hurdle is Heritage Academy, whose only losses have come to Indianola Academy and Class AAAA power Lamar Academy. The Patriots are averaging 35 points per game, and their two losses are the only games in which they’ve scored less than 26.

“They’re a good, solid team playing at home,” Smithhart said. “They’re so balanced and crisp on offense. They’re an older team and have a good high school quarterback that makes good decisions. They’ve got all the makings of what they are. They’ll be one of the best teams we’ve faced.”

FRIDAY’S AREA GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
Grenada at Vicksburg (Radio: 1490 AM/107.7 FM)
Warren Central at Starkville (Radio: 105.5 FM)
St. Aloysius at Heritage Academy (Radio: 101.3 FM)
Franklin Academy at Tallulah Academy
Sharkey-Issaquena at Briarfield Academy
Port Gibson at Hazlehurst
Madison Parish at Union Parish

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