It all comes down to this.

Beat Stringer tonight, and the St. Aloysius Flashes are in the playoffs. Lose, and their season is over.

One chance, do-or-die, and an entire season’s worth of work on the line.

“Since our sophomore year, we’ve been waiting for it,” St. Al offensive lineman Cole Whitney, a senior, said.

St. Al (7-3, 6-3 Region 4-1A) and Stringer (6-3, 6-3) got to this point via equally circuitous routes. Stringer lost its first two games, to No. 2 Puckett and No. 5 Mount Olive, then won six in a row before losing a 56-55 thriller to Pelahatchie last week.

Quarterback Andrew Pierce has thrown for 914 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, and added 559 yards and nine scores on the ground. Sophomore tailback Derek Bynum has rushed for 511 yards and seven touchdowns.

“They’re a lot like us and Pelahatchie and Bogue Chitto. They do a lot of things well, especially on offense. They put up a lot of points,” St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said. “Their quarterback makes them go. He’s as good or better than Bogue Chitto’s quarterback. I don’t know if they have better weapons than Bogue Chitto, but they have more weapons.”

St. Al, meanwhile, pulled out two region wins in the final minute. It lost 51-7 to Mount Olive last week, however. St. Al turned the ball over three times in that game, something it didn’t do much while winning seven of its previous eight games.

“We turned the ball over too much and they didn’t just fall on it. They scored. We played one of our worst games of the year against one of the best teams,” Smithhart said.

That one-sided game was quickly put out of mind by the Flashes.

“We’ve got to forget about it. We stomped the tape,” St. Al tailback Chris Lewis said.

And so the Flashes and Red Devils arrived at this point, where one game will decide their seasons. If St. Al wins, it will finish fourth in the region and travel to face No. 4 Durant in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs. Stringer is in the playoffs with a win, and can still finish third in the region if Bogue Chitto loses to Mount Olive tonight.

Whoever loses tonight, though, is out. That should make for an intense game and, Smithhart hoped, a supercharged atmosphere from a large crowd.

“If they ain’t made a game all year, this would be a good time. We need the support,” Smithhart said with a smile. “Atmosphere makes for a good game. If the kids can feel it, the place is jumping, that just fuels it and makes for a fun, fun ballgame.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.