St. Aloysius’ bumpy flight of a season is on its final approach, and things did not get any smoother Friday night.

Ethan White ran for three touchdowns and added a fourth on a kickoff return to lead Manchester Academy to a 53-14 win over St. Al.

Tobias McGee also scored two touchdowns, on a 14-yard run and an interception return, as Manchester raced to a 34-6 lead at halftime and never looked back.

White had scoring runs of 44, 4 and 5 yards in the first half.

Adam Edgar caught a 40-yard touchdown pass for Manchester (4-5), and Joseph Biedelman had a 27-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

“Our first offensive play we lost (running back) Pierson Smith to what we believe is a broken collarbone, so we immediately had to shift kids all around both offensively and defensively. We really didn’t get our legs back underneath us until late in the second quarter,” St. Al coach Bubba Nettles said. “We had several turnovers, tipped balls that turned into picks, one pick-6 … Manchester is a well-coached team and a storied program. They were there prepared to play. We were, too, but when something like that happens it shook them a little bit.”

Thompson Fortenberry, playing with a broken left thumb and a brace on his hand, scored two rushing touchdowns for St. Al. He had a 13-yarder in the second quarter and a 1-yarder in the third.

“When Pierson went down we had to move Thompson back to tailback. With the brace on his hand, he can’t hold the football in that hand but he can hold it in the other and he toted that rock the best he could,” Nettles said.

The loss dropped St. Al’s record to 0-9, and put them in danger of having the school’s first winless season in 110 years. The Flashes only have one game left, next Friday at home vs. Winston Academy, to avoid that bit of unwanted history.

“Send these seniors out on a bang, let’s get after it and see what happens the last game of the season,” Nettles said. “I’m so proud of these kids. They’re warriors, and I mean that with every ounce of me. Every time something happens, these kids step up to the plate and they keep fighting. It was the next man up tonight. They did everything they could, and that’s all we can ask of them.”