[10/17/03]]The toughest portion of St. Aloysius’ schedule is behind it. The Flashes’ next three Region 4-1A games come against teams that have a combined record of 1-19.

Tonight at 7:30, St. Al (2-5, 1-4) will look to keep its playoff hopes alive as it hosts Enterprise-Lincoln (1-6, 1-4).

Last week, St. Al suffered a 41-6 loss at the hands of powerful Mize (5-2, 5-0).

But with Enterprise, Dexter and West Lincoln slated for the next three games, followed by archrival Cathedral, St. Al coach Jim Taylor feels good about the end of the year.

“We’re looking at four games that certainly we have high expectations for and close the season out on a good note,” Taylor said.

While playoff possibilities still remain, Taylor is more concerned with his team’s steady improvement.

“The chances of us getting in are slim but the chances are much better for us to end on a positive note,” he said. “And that’s what we plan on doing, just simply by keep working on fundamentals and try to keep a good attitude and play hard.

“We’ve had players that have been real productive in the past few weeks. We’re just going to try and expand on that some.”

Junior Rob Jones has emerged in the last few games to take control of the running game. Jones leads Warren County with 672 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

Senior quarterback Drew Mazzanti has shown steady improvement throughout the season as the offense has begun to jell. Mazzanti has 584 yards passing with six touchdowns and four interceptions. He also has 224 rushing yards with four touchdowns.

“Even in the loss to Mize, we moved the ball very well in spots,” Taylor said. “I think Rob had over 100 yards in a loss to them in which they played as good a defense as anybody. We’ve got some positives working for us and we’re certainly not down at all.”

Despite Enterprise’s poor record, Taylor doesn’t plan to overlook the Yellowjackets.

“They do have good athletes. They’re a team that can beat you, and we had to come from behind on them last year,” he said.

St. Al freshman linebacker Alex Halinski will miss tonight’s game as he recovers from a concussion.