One of the pitfalls of Class 1A football are the long bus rides.

St. Aloysius (0-2) is geared up to make its longest trip of the season, two and a half hours, to Salem in Walthall County to open Region 4-1A play.

Even more bad news? The Flashes will be returning to Walthall County to play Dexter next week.

Last week’s region opener against Hinds AHS was pushed back to Oct. 19 because of Tropical Storm Isaac.

“It’s better than playing without practicing,” said B.J. Smithhart about the unintentional bye week. “We were both lucky enough to have the same off week to move it. I don’t know if it’ll help us more or less.”

Don’t expect a lot of surprises from Salem, which runs a power offense with some wishbone and option. Leading the way for the Wildcats (1-1) is Stevie Quinn, who has rushed for 257 yards and three touchdowns in two games. One concern for the Flashes is containing his big-play capability, as he averages 15.1 yards per carry and has a 92-yard run this season.

That presents a big problem for the Flashes, who have given up more than300 rushing yards apiece in losses to Madison-St. Joe and Greenville-St. Joe.

With most of the teams in the region playing run-heavy schemes, stopping the run will be key to St. Al’s hopes of a playoff berth.

“We’ve really got to play a low pad level,” Smithhart said. “We’ve just to develop the attitude that you’re not going to get moved, that this is my gap.”

Offensively, the Flashes will have to block 6-foot-7, 275-pound Southern Miss commitment Jonathan Wilson, who has 10 tackles this season after recording 69 stops and four sacks last year.

“They play smashmouth football,” Smithhart said. “They bring a lot of pressure on defense and get after it pretty good. They’re not going to try to get too fancy, they’re just going to come at you.”

A piece of good news is that St. Al has found a

quality tailback. Elliott Bexley has earned the lion’s share of the carries, toting the ball 23 times for 130 yards, one touchdowns and a healthy 5.7 yards per carry. Smithhart is happy with his progress.

“He runs really hard and he tries to run through you and that’s really what I like,” Smithhart said. “He needs to work on his ball security, but he knows that and hopefully, this week, he puts it together, because he’s a hard man to tackle.”