BROOKHAVEN Predictable, maybe. Effective, without a doubt.

St. Aloysius used 269 rushing yards, 191 in the first half, to beat West Lincoln, 42-12, earning a berth in the state Class 1A playoffs and possibly assuring themselves of a No. 1 seed.

“I don’t believe in predictable. You have to find an offense you are comfortable with and run it. You find a good offense that works and you stick with it,” said Flashes’ assistant coach Jimmy Salmon, who coached the final seconds of the game after head coach Jim Taylor left with Corey Fuller, who suffered a broken leg.

“When you do the opposite, you are playing into the defense’s hands.”

The Bears’ defense had a hard enough time getting a hand on the Flashes’ runners.

Greg Smith rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns, surpassing 1,000 for the season. Michael Engle rushed for 72 yards on six carries and Michael Head had 59 yards and two touchdowns on four carries, with his first two touches coming in the second quarter.

The Flashes didn’t bother trying anything new, using five minutes and 42 rushing yards on their first possession to set up a Chad Cox 12-yard touchdown pass to Adam Beaugh on fourth down for a 7-0 lead.

The Bears couldn’t answer and the Flashes continued the onslaught.

Engle jump-started an 85-yard second-quarter drive with a 51-yard run around end, bookended by Smith’s 4-yard touchdown for a 14-0 cushion.

With only 2 yards on three plays in their second possession, the Bears were forced to punt from the 35 and shanked it out of bounds for a no-yard punt. It took three plays and a pitch right for the Flashes to capitalize and take a 21-0 lead on Head’s 8-yard TD run.

“The offense was very effective,” Head said. “Their defense had gaps everywhere, we hit them and we were gone.”

Cox took a quarterback keeper 22 yards on the first play of the next possession to give St. Al a 28-0 lead at the half.

The Flashes scored on their first possession of the second half on Smith’s 4-yard run for a 35-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Head scored his second touchdown on a 37-yard spring to put St. Al up 42-0.

The Flashes allowed a pair of West Lincoln touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the second team, but the game was well in hand.

Stacy Fells had 92 of his 139 rushing yards in the fourth quarter.

The Flashes return home to play rival Natchez Cathedral on Friday.

“This is a big one. We feel this one will put us in the playoffs and now we can concentrate on Cathedral,” Salmon said.