This is the first week of the rest of St. Aloysius’ football life.

With any possibility of reaching the playoffs erased following two straight losses, the Flashes start the second half of their season tonight at home against Pisgah with nothing to lose and, on paper, nothing to play for.

“We try to still practice hard and not get stuck in a rut and do the same things. If nothing else, it just makes it fun and enjoyable to play football. Football is supposed to be fun,” St. Al coach Jim Taylor said.

This season has rarely been fun for the Flashes. They got off to an 0-2 start in which they were outscored 70-13, resurrected some hope with two straight wins, then had it dashed again with a disappointing loss to Pelahatchie.

Last week’s loss to top-ranked Puckett wasn’t unexpected, but it did put an end to the possibility of a second straight playoff berth.

This week, St. Al has an opponent it matches up well against. Pisgah has also struggled, going just 2-4 so far (2-3 in Region 4-1A play) and has been on as big a rollercoaster ride as the Flashes.

Pisgah lost to Puckett and Mount Olive in its first three games to fall into a deep hole in the region race, then suffered a close loss to Stringer. The Dragons rebounded with a 25-22 win over Pelahatchie last week but, like St. Al, will likely end up playing out the string starting with tonight’s game.

“The key for us is just executing our blocks, and we should be able to move the football. I think we’ve got a pretty good matchup with them,” said Taylor, who has four players with more than 200 rushing yards apiece. “Going in, this is a game we can win.”