St. Aloysius started the game with a big 50-yard punt return by sophomore Connor Bottin against its rival Madison- St. Joseph Friday night. It jumped to an early lead with a 43-yard field goal before falling to the Bruins 35-17.

Eric Diamond ran for two touchdowns to lead St. Joe.

“Depth just got on to us,” St. Al coach BJ Smithhart said after the loss. “We’re out a couple of players. We played hard and played four quarters. We had guys that don’t have a lot of breaks so they’re gutting it out and I think they’re playing hard.”

Bottin stepped in for injured running back DeMichael Harris for the second straight game. He rushed for 163 yards and scored on a 41-yard run, providing a strong rushing game for the Flashes.

The Flashes and Bruins were both looking for their first win of the season, but the Bruins prevailed.

“Everybody wants to win, everybody wants to do those things. We have a couple of things to work on but I think the kids are playing hard. We’ve just got to keep on chugging. I believe good things are coming,” Smithhart said.

Penalties hurt the Flashes all night. They were penalized 10 times for a total of 70 yards on everything from encroachment to illegal substitutions and running into the kicker.

“A lot of big penalties in big situations,” Smithhart said. “That comes from mental fatigue and the guys being out there. We’ve got to stop those things.”

St. Al quarterback Will Pierce was 9-for-21 passing with 63 yards and 31 rushing yards. He threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Teller early in the second quarter to bring the game within a field goal at 10-7. This was in response to Diamond’s 4-yard rushing score that gave the Bruins the lead at the end of the first quarter.

The game was pretty much over then, with the Bruins allowing just 10 points for the rest of the night, but Pierce was able to keep a drive alive in the fourth quarter.

Bottin ran out of bounds on a kickoff to spot the ball at the 2-yard line. Pierce started the drive on a bobbled snap but scrambled 18 yards for a first down. He moved the chains to midfield with an 18-yard pass and later threw to Josh Brown for a 7-yard pickup and scrambled for 8 more yards.

The drive ended with an unsuccessful fake field goal attempt.

“He’s a good athlete. I think everybody here can give him better protection and give him time, but we’ll get there,” Smithhart said of Pierce. “As long as we keep getting a little bit better here and there, it’ll eventually come together by district.”