There’s a million clichés for it.

Running under the radar. A sleeper. A Q-ship.

It’s the team that seemingly comes out of nowhere, unhyped, unheralded. A virtual unknown for opposing coaches and players.

St. Aloysius is quietly going about its business, minus any hooplah. There are no five-star prospects being stalked by college coaches on the roster. They don’t have a gimmicky, whiz-bang offense that would amaze ESPN talking heads.

But starting out 3-1, against a tough non-division schedule, has got the Flashes turning some heads statewide. St. Al got 14 votes in the latest Associated Press prep football poll after a convincing 34-14 victory over Class 2A foe Madison-St. Joe.

“I thought we played our best ball game, especially in the first half,” St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said after his team put 28 points on the board in the first half  vs. Madison-St. Joe. “We’ve not just got better, but a lot better each week. We are moving in the right direction.”

Word is getting out. These guys are for real. And the Flashes get a chance to rest this Friday after four straight weeks before hosting Bogue Chitto next week in the Division 4-1A opener.

The key for St. Al has been the balance on offense and the physicality on defense. St. Al isn’t going to be confused with a run and shoot team. They don’t pass the ball only seven or eight times a night.

But the key is the Flashes pass when they want to and not when their opponent or the situation dictates a passing play.

Regan Nosser, in his first year under center, has proven both accurate throwing the football and gives the team a running threat on the perimeter.

Against Madison-St. Joe, he found Luke Burnett for some big completions downfield and was helped by the hard running of  Ryno Martin-Nez and Brendan Beesley.

Beesley had nine carries for 98 yards and one score, Nosser went 6-of-9 for 115 yards passing and rushed for a score, and Martin-Nez rushed nine times for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

Talk about balanced.

“We have a bunch of different formations,” Nosser said. “I think the backs did a good job, the line did a good job. We’re definitely more confident and I think we’re going to go into the bye week pretty strong.”

Defensively, the Flashes are playing the run and the pass tough and held Madison St. Joe star Stephen Cofer in check, holding him to 51 yards rushing and a single receiving TD.

The Flashes havedone it by being physical and flowing to the football, but Smithhart said that a key will be getting rid of the 15-yard penalties that have kept opposing drives alive.

The real season begins for St. Al next week against Bogue Chitto, a team that gave the Flashes a costly early division loss that crippled their playoff aspirations.

The Flashes would like a measure of payback.

“I think that loss last year completely changed the whole season,” Nosser said. “We’re going to go into it ready to whip their tails this week.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com