The sun shined brighter and the air smelled better for the St. Aloysius Flashes when they came to practice Monday.

After earning their first victory since 2022, the dark cloud that had been hanging over Balzli Field for more than two years lifted and they could finally stop hearing the question, “When will the streak end?”

“It’s nice to never hear that question,” St. Al coach Walker Mosby said with a chuckle. “Everything’s great. We celebrated Friday and we enjoyed ourself Saturday. Sunday was watching film and getting back to work, and breaking things down and getting ready for Central Hinds.”

St. Al ended its school-record 23-game losing streak last Friday by beating Clinton Christian 19-6. It led to a fun weekend, but by Monday it was indeed back to work as they try to make it two in a row this Friday night against Central Hinds (3-2, 0-0 MAIS District 2-4A).

St. Al’s last winning streak came in the middle of the 2021 season, when it beat Cathedral and Clinton Christian in back-to-back weeks.

“You always enjoy a win for as long as possible, but there’s still a lot of football left to be played,” Mosby said. “We’ve got five more games. If you could enjoy them every day you would, but life just doesn’t work that way for us.”

Before moving on, Mosby took a minute to once again praise his team for winning — not just doing it, but how they did it.

The Flashes trailed Clinton Christian 6-0 at halftime, then scored 19 unanswered points in the second half. They rushed for 320 yards as a team, showing they can assert some physical authority as well as overcome adversity.
Mosby felt like it was a turning point for his young team on a number of levels.

“For those guys to face adversity and come out on top, there’s just something different about them. There’s just a different kind of feeling. I’m so proud of those guys and the way they handled things mentally,” he said. “Now they know what it’s like to face adversity and overcome.”

If St. Al (1-4, 1-1) can build on its success and win another game or two among its last five, it might do more than build confidence.

Twelve of the 14 teams in MAIS Class 4A qualify for the playoffs. Thanks to its victory and a strong strength of schedule, St. Al currently ranks eighth in the power point rankings that determine at-large bids and seedings.

That means, at the moment, St. Al would not only qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2020, it would host a first-round game.

Mosby, though, was trying not to think that far ahead. There is still a long way to go before it’s settled, and it starts with Friday’s home game against Central Hinds.

“We’re just going to focus on one day at a time and one opponent at a time. Doing that and winning some football games will lead to the playoffs,” Mosby said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. We’ve got to handle business week to week.”

FRIDAY’S AREA GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
Central Hinds at St. Aloysius (Radio: 101.3 FM)
Vicksburg at Yazoo City (Radio: 107.7 FM)
Madison Central at Warren Central (Radio: 105.5 FM)
Porter’s Chapel at Tensas Academy (Radio: 104.5 FM)
Prairie View Academy at Tallulah Academy
Port Gibson at Crystal Springs
Ouachita Christian at Madison Parish (Thursday)