[10/31/02]The playoff cards are being shuffled and St. Aloysius knows it is time to ante up.

For all conceivable purposes, the Flashes (7-2, 5-2) should have the upper hand for a berth in the Class 1A state playoffs. They just have to beat lowly West Lincoln (1-8, 1-6) Friday to get there.

Just don’t expect coach Willie Brumfield and his Bears to lay out the welcome mat when the Flashes venture into Brookhaven.

“We’re in a spoiler position and I think our kids are excited about the opportunity to distort the playoff picture,” Brumfield said. “We’re using it as motivation.”

To even have a chance at spoiling the Flashes’ chances of a playoff berth, the Bears have to stop the lethal running tandem of Greg Smith and Michael Head, Brumfield said.

Sloppy weather shouldn’t be a factor on Friday, like it has been in the Flashes’ two losses to Dexter and Mize.

“I’ll make no bones about it, we don’t do well in the rain. We’re just not as big as some of these teams,” Flashes coach Jim Taylor said. “But that is no excuse, the offense and defense have got to complement each other.

“We didn’t play well enough on offense the other night to give the defense a break and take some pressure off them.”

The Bears’ feature running back Landon Case is out for the remainder of the season after fracturing his pelvis, and the Flashes’ Head has been slowed with a groin injury after practicing field goals due to the injury of kicker Cass Dodgen.

“We are going to have to keep the ball as long as we can,” Brumfield said. “We are going to have to control the tempo, eat clock and keep it away from their backs.

“And they’re going to have to make mistakes. Unfortunately, they don’t make many mistakes, so we’re going to have to play mistake free football.”

The Flashes have all the motivation they need with a playoff berth imminent, and Taylor talks with the confidence of a coach who has plans of making it back to the playoffs after a six year hiatus.

“(The Bears) are capable of playing pretty well, and they’re capable of not playing too well. But for us, we just have to regroup after a loss and be more concerned about what we do rather than worry about them too much, other than making the proper game precautions,” Taylor said.

“We’re looking for a good ballgame and plan on making the playoffs this weekend.”