Things did not go well for the St. Aloysius Flashes on their first trip to Winston Academy.

Luckily, they’ll get a chance to set it right.

St. Al (2-8) will return to Winston Academy (6-4) Friday for a first-round game in the MAIS Class 4A playoffs, just a week after the teams played each other in the regular-season finale. It’s a rare chance at immediate redemption that coach Walker Mosby said the Flashes will embrace.

“It’s nice to get to play them again. You definitely have good quality film to look at,” Mosby said with a laugh. “I’m excited to play them again. They’re a good football team and we have a shot at redemption to try and walk away with a win and advance into the second round of the playoffs.”

Winston won last week’s game, 27-12, but Mosby was encouraged with the way his team finished. After falling behind 27-0, the Flashes scored two second-half touchdowns on passes from Carson Smith to Walt Andrews.

The late scores only served to make the score a little more respectable last week, but Mosby said they did provide some confidence and momentum heading into the rematch. Cleaning up a few mistakes that were made earlier in the game, and seeing some of the tricks and tactics Winston uses, might keep things closer this time.

“When we go and watch this film I think we’re going to see mistakes that we made that would’ve definitely helped us a lot. We’re going to try to make the corrections and I think we can beat them,” Mosby said. “They’re a good, quality football team with great players and they don’t really make mistakes. But I think if we can make the corrections as well I think we have a chance to beat them.”

This will be St. Al’s first postseason appearance since 2020, while Winston has been there four years in a row and reached the Class 5A semifinals in 2023.

The Flashes are living in the moment, though, and not the past. Despite being the underdog, Mosby was confident his team has more than a puncher’s chance at the upset.

“I think our guys definitely have the confidence in themselves that we can win,” Mosby said. “They know it’s a rare opportunity to get a chance at redemption. They’ll be able to see on film where if we correct these mistakes that we made, we’ll be able to hopefully walk away with a win.”

FRIDAY’S AREA GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
p-MAIS playoff games
p-St. Al at Winston Academy (Radio: 101.3 FM)
p-Park Place at Porter’s Chapel (Radio: 104.5 FM)
p-Marvell Academy at Tallulah Academy
Columbus at Vicksburg (Radio: 107.7 FM)
Callaway at Warren Central (Radio: 105.5 FM)
South Pike at Port Gibson
Madison Parish at Oak Grove, La.