There’s no denying the hole the St. Aloysius Flashes have dug for themselves.

Losses in their first two region games have made the promise of a 3-1 start a distant and fading memory. Worse, both losses were to teams St. Al will have to contend with to reach the playoffs. And they’re also dealing with the loss of their biggest offensive weapon to a season-ending knee injury.

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St. Al hosts Salem

It’s a dark time indeed on Grove Street. Not a lot has gone right the past few weeks. But the Flashes (3-3, 0-2 Region 4-1A) can start to claw their way back tonight at home against last-place Salem (2-5, 0-3).

“You’ve got to take it one game at a time. You’ve got to beat Salem,” St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said. “The playoffs will take care of itself if you play for pride. I think we’re playing hard. We’ve just got to pull out the close ones.”

Last season, St. Al won four games decided by eight points or less. Three of those weren’t settled until the final minute of the fourth quarter or in overtime. This season, St. Al is 1-2 in games decided by a touchdown or less and most of its bad luck has been of its own making.

Twice already this season the Flashes have had 10 or more penalties. In last week’s 31-14 loss to Dexter, a personal foul killed a drive that reached the 1-yard line. And after averaging 27 points over a three-game stretch in September, St. Al has scored just 21 points total in its last two games.

That offensive swoon could continue after leading rusher Ryno Martin-Nez suffered two torn knee ligaments in the loss to Dexter. Martin-Nez had 434 yards and five touchdowns in St. Al’s first five games.

Fullback Brendan Beesley (238 yards, five TDs) and backup tailbacks Carlton Campbell and Conner Brown are expected to split carries in Martin-Nez’s absence.

“It’s a lack of focus. We’ve tried practicing longer, practicing shorter, practicing easier, practicing harder. Something’s got to get through. We’ll keep trying things until it does,” Smithhart said. “We’ve got a good ball team. It seems like one area is always getting us. We get better on defense and our special teams have a let down. We make a play on special teams and our offense does something wrong.”

Salem might be the right opponent at the right time for the struggling Flashes.

Salem’s only win on the field was a 14-6 victory over Mt. Hermon, La., on Sept. 11. It also has a forfeit win over Resurrection.

Other than in their one victory, the Wildcats have not scored more than six points in a game this season. They’ve lost their last three to Dexter, Mount Olive and Sebastopol — the top three teams in the Region 4-1A standings — by a combined 119-12.

Even so, the Flashes are painfully aware they can’t afford to take anyone lightly anymore. With only five regular-season games remaining, their margin for error is gone.

“We pretty much have to win out,” said Luke Burnett, who leads the team with 14 receptions and is second with 51 tackles. “The plan is to win out.”

The Flashes face archrival Cathedral on Thursday and will play Mount Olive on Oct. 23. West Lincoln and Sebastapol round out the final month of the season.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com