As recently as 14 months ago, the idea of St. Aloysius playing in a state championship game seemed absurd. St. Al won a total of five games in 2011 and 2012, then muddled along to a decent record in the first half of 2013.

Then something clicked.

Since last October, St. Al has only lost twice in 19 games — and not at all in their last 13. The remarkable run has landed them in the Class 1A championship game, where they’ll face archrival Cathedral Friday morning in Starkville.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for a program that was often competitive, but mostly mediocre and rarely championship caliber for the past 3 1/2 decades.

“It feels like a dream right now,” junior lineman Josh Price said, echoing the thoughts of most of his teammates following a 35-6 rout of No. 1 Coffeeville in last Friday’s North State championship game.

Price is one of nine players, including all five offensive lineman, who have been in the starting lineup for at least two seasons. Senior linemen Drake Dorbeck and Bash Brown are four-year starters, while guard Jacob Kitchens and quarterback Connor Smith are three-year starters.

St. Al coach BJ Smithhart said he saw potential in this junior and senior class early on, but admitted even he’s a bit stunned to see them reach the rare air of a championship game appearance.

“When this senior group was in the eighth grade, I knew they could be pretty special. We had a middle school game at East Flora, which feeds Madison Central. A lot of good players have come out of there. They had some monsters, and we fought them tooth and nail,” Smithhart said. “I knew if we could stay together, they could do some really good things. Now, to say they could be doing this? I knew we’d be good, but this is almost ridiculous.”

St. Al last played for a state title in 1981, when it lost the Class B championship game to Sturgis. Neither Class B nor Sturgis High School exist any more.

The last time any Warren County team played for a state championship was 1994, when Warren Central won the Class 5A title in the second of back-to-back championship game appearances. Smithhart was a member of that WC team, and said he planned to encourage his players to savor this experience.

“You’ve got to enjoy it and keep that mindset. You know you want to win it and stay focused, but at the same time you want to enjoy it,” Smithhart said. “These guys have been a lot looser than I have. Nothing really fazes this bunch. They’re going to do what they do to get ready to play. I try to get as far away from them before a game as I can.”

The championship matchup is also one to savor. Cathedral handed St. Al its only loss of the season, 42-31 in the season opener on Aug. 22.

The two Catholic schools have played each other in football since the 1930s, and built a deep, long-lasting rivalry across nearly every sport since then. They’ve often played in the same division, and the rivalry intensified over the past decade when both were regular contenders for the Class 1A baseball championship.

Cathedral has won the last five meetings in football, while St. Al won the four before that. Getting to the championship game is great, Smithhart said, but getting to face an archrival on the biggest stage possible is going to make it even better.

“It just tops off a great season. Their kids and our kids both. They play each other a lot. To start and end the season that way, we’re a lot alike. Same Diocese, same superintendent,” Smithhart said. “It’s special. It would seem almost to be fitting. Like this was supposed to happen.”

Class 1A championship

St. Aloysius vs. Cathedral

Friday, 11 a.m., at Mississippi State University

Radio: 101.3 FM

Online: For live scoring updates, follow The Vicksburg Post on Twitter https://twitter.com/vixpostsports