RAYVILLE, La. — St. Aloysius was in a must-win situation Friday as it battled District 3-AAA foe Riverfield Academy in the final game of the regular season.

The Flashes, however, came up just short in a 30-25 loss to the Raiders that dashed their hopes of earning a berth in the MAIS Class AAA playoffs. St. Al (3-7, 3-2 District 3-AAA) fell a bit short of earning a wild card berth in the 16-team postseason bracket. It’s the first time since 2012 that it has failed to make the playoffs.
Riverfield (9-1, 5-0) won the District 3-AAA championship and earned an automatic bid.

“We pretty much had to win out to get in and need some upsets that I don’t think we’re going to get,” St. Al coach Michael Fields said.

Leading 19-14 halfway through the fourth quarter, St. Aloysius had a chance to add to its lead, but couldn’t convert on a fourth down attempt. Riverfield then went 90 yards to take a lead it never gave up.

“We had a chance to go up two scores and couldn’t do it,” Fields said. “We got flat after that and it was just one of those things.”

St. Al moved the ball in the first half, but Riverfield held a 14-7 lead at the half with junior quarterback Antonio Thompson running in for the lone St. Al touchdown. But the Flashes opened the second half with a nice drive that culminated with Thompson hitting Ryan Theriot with a touchdown pass. The extra point, however, was blocked and St. Al trailed 14-13.

Evan Fedell caught a pass from Thompson inside the Raiders’ 5-yard line that set up Thompson’s second TD run of the night and capped a 98-yard drive. The two-point conversion failed and St. Al was up 19-14 with 3:02 to play in the third quarter.

Facing fourth down in the fourth quarter, Riverfield was flagged for a personal foul that gave St. Al a first down. The Flashes looked as though they were about to increase their lead, but a false start nullified a touchdown.

Rather than attempt a field goal, the Flashes went for it on fourth down and turned the ball over on downs at the Riverfield 10 with about five minutes to play in the game.

It didn’t take long for the Raiders to go 90 yards and score the go-ahead TD. The two-point conversion put Riverfield up 22-19 with about three minutes remaining.

Thompson was intercepted by Jay Garrett to set up a late insurance TD for the Raiders, which they wound up needing.

Desperate, Thompson found Theriot with a touchdown pass with less than two minutes to play to make it a 30-25 ballgame, but it was too little, too late.

Thompson finished the game 22-of-37 for 296 yards and a pair of TD passes to Theriot, while also rushing 12 times for 72 yards and a couple of scores. Theriot caught 12 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns, while Fedell had six grabs for 98 yards.

“The kids played a great all-around game,” Fields said. “They gave a hundred percent and have nothing to hang their heads about. We just came up a little short against a good team.”