A pair of Louisiana’s top 2027 and 2028 prospects’ prolific performances helped highlight the latest edition of Alexandria and Brother Martin’s growing playoff history.
Junior wide receiver Easton Royal looked the past of one of the nation’s top-ranked juniors with yet another memorable night for the No. 12 Crusaders (7-5).
But, as each postseason round brings a bigger audience, running back Kason Williams continued his breakout sophomore season with 240 total yards and four touchdowns to lead the No. 5 Trojans (9-2) to a 38-27 victory and into their third straight quarterfinals.
“I felt a little sick after the first one,” Williams said. “I didn’t practice, didn’t play and didn’t get hit in about three weeks, so it came out rough. But after that, we went into halftime, I got right and I was like, ‘Alright, it’s time to go.'”
Williams finished with 146 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries and another 94 yards and a score on three receptions.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound athlete had been banged up and missed time late in the regular season and admitted as well to some early nerves in his first varsity playoff action.
Still, the young back took an early swing pass from junior quarterback Karsen Sellers and dashed 91 yards to the game’s first points.
Junior kicker Eli Fung added a career-long 45-yard field goal to stretch the advantage to 10-0 before the end of the first quarter.
Royal provided the Crusaders’ answers with a pair of explosive second-quarter scores: a 70-yard bomb from junior quarterback Hudson Fields and an 88-yard punt return to claim a 13-10 lead with 3:31 left in the half.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound speedster finished with four catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns, plus the special-teams score.
But Sellers, who finished 14-for-20 for 213 yards and two touchdowns, connected with fellow junior Alex Fontenot for a score before the break to reclaim a 17-13 edge.
Williams blew the game open with a 25-yarder late in the third and 16-yarder early in the fourth to stretch the margin to 31-13 with 10:38 remaining.
Royal quickly busted another long touchdown, his third end-zone trip of the game, on a screen from sophomore quarterback Justin Morgan.
But Alexandria was able to answer with a Letravious Williams interception Williams cashed in for score No. 4 and a 38-19 lead.
The Crusaders would score a Morgan keeper and two-point conversion midway through the fourth, but the Trojans wouldn’t allow any more with an interception by junior defensive back Jaytun Terry, his second of the game, highlighting the defensive close-out.
Alexandria advances to face No. 4 Catholic-Baton Rouge at BREC’s Memorial Stadium in next Friday’s quarterfinals.
“I know it’s gonna be a big matchup,” Williams said. “It’s gonna be a bunch eyes on us. Not too many teams left, no bad teams left. So we’ve just really gotta get back to work.”
Fellow sophomore back Noble Williams carried 18 times for 120 yards, and Fontenot caught eight passes for 97 yards.