The Strauss-Stallings Trophy will gather another year’s worth of dust in the St. Aloysius trophy case.

The St. Al seniors made it three consecutive victories over archrival Madison-St. Joe, as the Flashes crushed the Bruins 34-14 in the 47th meeting between the two teams.

“It’s sweet,” St. Al coach B.J. Smithhart said about keeping the trophy another year. “The seniors wanted to keep it. They weren’t about to let it leave here.”

St. Al’s senior class played their parts to perfection.

Senior fullback/linebacker Brendan Beesley had nine carries for 98 yards and one score and returned a fumble 27 yards for another touchdown. Regan Nosser went 6-of-9 for 115 yards passing and rushed for a score. Ryno Martin-Nez rushed nine times for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

“We get to keep the trophy, but it’s just another game getting ready for district,” Beesley said. “It took 11 guys this game. The line was really hitting their spots. We spread it out a little more passing. Everybody pitches in and that’s how you win football games.”

The Flashes managed to largely contain Bruin superstar Stephen Cofer. Despite having a pair of big kickoff returns and scoring on a 13-yard pass reception, Cofer had only seven carries for 51 yards.

“He just runs east and west and we just tried to stay east and west with him,” Martin-Nez said. “We didn’t want to break it outside. We tried to make him run it north and south and he didn’t do really well when he did that.”

In the first half, the Flashes mixed in the run and pass perfectly on their first drive, an eight-play, 52-yard march that culminated in a 7-yard dive by Martin-Nez to put the Flashes up 7-0 after the Pierson Waring PAT.

In the second quarter, the Flashes got great field position at the Bruin 40 after a 25-yard punt return by Carlton Campbell. Martin-Nez hit Beesley for a 11-yard pass hookup and Nosser hit a leaping Conner Brown for a 14-yard connection at the 1, setting up Nosser’s plunge one play later to put the Flashes up 14-0.

The Bruins cut into the lead after Cofer shook loose on a 45-yard kick return to put St. Joe in business in St. Al territory. After a pair of costly 15-yard penalties kept the drive alive, Luke Younger hit Cofer on a 13-yard pass play to cut the lead to 14-7.

Then things got a bit wild.

On the next St. Al drive, on third-and-5, Beesley steamed through the St. Joe defense on a 64-yard scamper to set up the Flashes at the St. Joe 9. Two plays later, he capped the drive with a 3-yard plunge.

A couple of plays later, Mac Jones stripped Younger of the ball on a sack. Beesley scooped up the errant pigskin and took it to the house for a 27-yard score to put St. Al in command 28-7 at the break.

The Flashes picked up where they left off on their opening drive of the third quarter. Nosser hit Peter Halinski for a 25-yard reception and Luke Burnett for a 22-yard gain as the Flashes marched methodically down the field. Martin-Nez capped the scoring for the Flashes with a 1-yard plunge to put St. Al up 34-7 after Waring’s PAT sailed wide.

The Bruins took advantage of another big kick return by Cofer to set themselves up at the St. Al 45. Younger hit E.J. Martin to cap a 7-play, 45-yard march that sliced the deficit to 34-14 with 4:55 remaining in the third.

St. Joe never mounted another serious threat, as the St. Al defense came up with a turnover on downs and another fumble recovery by Beesley to preserve the lead.

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By Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com