Flashes try to build on 2014’s momentum during summer

The St. Aloysius Flashes have wrapped up nearly every practice this summer with a series of sprints up and down a small hill adjacent to the school’s parking lot.

It’s a fitting metaphor for the 2015 season. After climbing the mountain, to stay there they’ll have to conquer a bunch of little hills.

The Flashes finished 14-2 last season and lost in the Class 1A championship game to Cathedral. There seems to be enough talent returning to make another run, and during the summer practice period one point of focus has been on making sure they have the foundation in place to do it again.

“We’ve got good leaders — Josh Price, and DeMichael (Harris), and a good group of seniors — and they’re not going to let us not carry over,” St. Al coach BJ Smithhart said. “They’ve worked too hard and they want to go out with a bang. It’s been easy on the coaches when you’ve got guys like that.”

With the senior lineman Price and the running back Harris, the Flashes should have enough to beat a lot of teams. Price is being recruited by a number of junior colleges and smaller Division I programs, and Harris ran for a school-record 2,102 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.

Beyond those two, however, is a deep roster that has gotten plenty of playing time and development during the summer practice and 7-on-7 schedule.

Another offensive lineman, junior Ben Brown, has already gotten a scholarship offer from Southern Miss. Quarterbacks Will Pierce and Brandon Teller are continuing to battle for the starting job, and whichever one loses will certainly contribute to a deep receiving corps.

Teller, who previously played receiver and might do so again, has 45 receptions in his first two varsity seasons. Pierce is a big body with soft hands.

Together with returning senior Lane Hynum, who caught a team-high 24 passes for 273 yards last season despite missing more than a month with a broken collarbone, the Flashes will have a passing game to go along with the running threat.

“I always feel like we can run behind Josh and Ben, and guys like that, and get those tough yards. So we know we can run. Now we feel like we can pass, too,” Smithhart said. “That started with (former quarterback Connor Smith) last year and I feel like it’ll carry over this year.”

Besides the returning players, Smithhart said a few new ones have emerged during the summer as possible standouts. Townsend Derivaux and Landon Middleton have made strides at linebacker, and Garrett Breithaupt will play an important role as a blocking tight end.

“Townsend Derivaux hasn’t missed a day. He’s really had a good summer. He, Garrett Breithaupt and Landon Middleton, those three guys will be looking to play a key role. People might not know about them yet. It’s just their time,” Smithhart said.

Price, too, saw work at a new position during 7-on-7 games. Smithhart had the 280-pound offensive guard clogging up the middle of the field as a linebacker.

Although he didn’t rule out dropping back into coverage occasionally, Price laughed and said it was more of a conditioning tool than an audition.

“That’s just to keep me in shape and lose a couple of pounds,” Price laughed. “I got my 40 down to a 5-flat.”

The Flashes will have one more week of practice before taking an MHSAA-mandated “dead week” where no activities can take place, and begin preseason practice on Aug. 3. Their jamboree is Aug. 14 at Mississippi College, and the season opener is a week later at Cathedral in a rematch of last year’s Class 1A championship game.

The theme of the summer, Price said, has been to put in the work and let the rest take care of itself.

“I try not to think about it too much. I know if you press for it too hard, you might end up doing too much or just something not clicking,” Price said. “We just try to come in, work as hard as we can every day. Don’t really put too much pressure on yourself, Just let it all come naturally.”

Nothing, it seems, can ruin the Flashes’ good and easygoing mood these days. During an interview for this story, Smithhart was standing at the base of the hill following the team’s practice-ending sprints. As he answered a question, he shuffled his feet backward and tripped over a log that serves as a barrier between the parking lot and the hill.

He laughed as he fell, then again at himself as he got up and brushed wet grass and dirt off himself.

“Athleticism at its finest,” Smithhart said with a wide grin, before picking up his thought exactly where he’d left off.

Just like the rest of his team.

“They’re working hard. We kind of go as those older guys go, and when they have good days we have good days,” he said. “We’re starting to have a bunch of good days falling into place.”