All week long, St. Aloysius coach B.J. Smithhart asked his team to do one thing: finish.

That was all the Flashes did Friday night against Salem.

The Flashes (1-3, 1-1 Division 4-1A) got a career game from Carlton Campbell and dominated in the trenches to pulverize the Wildcats 41-16.

“This was the best game we’ve had as far as effort since I’ve been here,” Smithhart said. “Carlton Campbell, what can you say?”

Apparently, a lot.

Campbell rushed 25 times for 174 yards with three touchdowns and added a back-breaking interception in the third that he returned for another TD.

“We had the heart the whole time and it finally showed up in this game,” Campbell said. “I’m just ecstatic. Our line did great.”

                                                                                      

St. Al 41, Salem 16

The records: St. Al (1-3, 1-1), Salem (3-1, 1-1)

The skinny: St. Al dominated in all phases in the best game of the B.J. Smithhart era

Up next: St. Al hosts Dexter

                                                                                      

The effort was nearly perfect in all phases. The Flashes were penalized only seven times, a season low, did not punt and racked up a season-high 271 total yards. After scoring only two touchdowns in the first three games, the St. Al offense had a breakout performance.

“This is a lineman’s win,” St. Al senior center Robert Arledge said. “This was a great game and the scoreboard said it. I think we showed a lot to our district. Carlton is a great athlete, by far one of the best players on our team. He’s the package, he’s what every team needs.”

Defensively, the Flashes forced three turnovers and held Salem (3-1, 1-1) to 174 yards. But none of those turnovers loomed larger than the one right before the half. With St. Al clinging to a 14-8 lead, Ke’undra Williams was stripped near the goal line and Sage Lewis jumped on the fumble to end the threat.

“We score there and we go up at halftime,” Salem coach Perry Coggin said. “It had to be a letdown, but that’s part of football. Highs and lows. When you’ve got the big mo, you seemingly can do no wrong. Mo is not on your side and you’re basically paddling upstream.”

Early in the third, the Flashes made a statement with their opening drive. Blake Hudson made a diving catch for 22 yards on third down-and-4 on a toss from Carlisle Koestler, the first pass attempt of the game.

Campbell reeled off runs of 13 and nine yards to move the chains and Koestler finished the drive with a 1-yard plunge to put St. Al up 20-8 after the two-point conversion failed.

On the ensuing Salem drive, the St. Al pass rush flushed Williams out of the pocket and he threw on the run, right into the waiting hands of Campbell, who returned it 40 yards to paydirt.

Salem strung together a drive, lifted by a 45-yard pass completion on third-and-33 from Mark Planche to Austin Fazande. Williams scored on a 10-yard run and added a two-point conversion to cut the St. Al lead to 27-16 with 1:39 left in the third.

But St. Al, as it did all night, countered with a potent ground game that rolled down the field. Campbell capped a nine-play, 65-yard drive with a 10-yard TD run. After the two teams exchanged fumbles, Campbell completed the scoring with a 6-yard run with 57 seconds remaining.

In the first half, the Flashes got a 27-yard run from Campbell and a 1-yard plunge by John Austin Jones.

Cameron Robinson scored for Salem on a 5-yard carry in the first half.

Riverfield 42, Tallulah 0

Tallulah Academy got a full-fisted dose of Murphy’s Law in a loss at Riverfield Academy.

“It was just not our night,” first-year coach Chris Busby said. “It was just one of those days. Monday, it’s back to square one.”