Edna Karr’s own miscues and a stout American Heritage defense combined to make much of Friday’s late-night, high-profile showdown feel like an uphill battle the typically explosive offense.
But senior quarterback John Johnson shook back and stepped up in the final minutes, piecing together a drive with his legs and big throws to Floyd Jones and Anthony Thomas to set up a game-tying Brayan Castellon field goal as the fourth quarter expired.
Johnson slashed his way across the goal line a few minutes later, and the Cougars’ defense capped its impressive performance overall with four more swarms of the Patriots after midnight to shut the door on the out-of-state visitors for a 24-17 victory in Caesars Superdome.
“That’s the heart of Algiers,” coach Brice Brown said. “You’ve gotta keep fighting. Just like when Jesus tells you, ‘Don’t let go,’ don’t let go. You’ve gotta keep fighting and you’ve gotta keep your faith in the kids because the kids are the people that make all of this happen.”
The teams didn’t kick off until after 9 p.m. and took enough quarter-plus to finally scratch the scoreboard in the defensive slugfest.
An acrobatic, leaping, spinning and one-handed catch by Jones in the back corner of the end zone but the Cougars on the board early in the second quarter.
But nationally ranked American Heritage answered with a 48-yard field goal by Kade Bailey and then a 37-yard, fourth-down strike just before half from converted wide receiver Coi Jean-Noel — playing in place of injured quarterback Dia Bell — to fellow senior Jamar Denson, who managed to keep his balance through contact and along the sideline for the 10-7 lead at the break.
Senior safety Terrance Johnson intercepted a pair of third-quarter passes for the Patriots and nearly another.
But John Johnson and the Cougars were finally able to cash their field-position advantage into a 15-yard touchdown to Joshua Ford to climb back ahead, 14-10.
And LSU-committed safety Aiden Hall highlighted a stellar night individually and for the Karr defense with a chase-down tackle and strip that saved an American Heritage touchdown and instead reclaimed possession as the the fumble bounced through and out of the end zone.
“Heritage has got a hell of a team,” Brown said. “They’re strong up front. I think defensively, that changed the game. Our defense gave us a lot of opportunities to keep trying to capitalize. You know, they sent a lot of three-man and four-man that usually we would pick apart, but their D-line was serious.
Denson flew past a falling cornerback early in the fourth to take the long pass in for the duo’s second scoring connection and a 17-14 lead.
And the Cougars struggled much of the quarter to find another response on offense.
But, backed against a well and into a second-and-24, John Johnson hit Jones to move the chains with a big chunk play, then ran for a third-and-long conversion a few plays later and hit Thomas deep into the red zone.
Castellon eventually drilled a 37-yard no-doubter as the final seconds of regulation ticked away.
“I was just thinking about everything,” said Castellon, who dedicated the kick to his late friend Jarvin Velasquez. “I was thinking about going to back-to-back championships and me just going to win for my brothers.”
John Johnson ran the Cougars’ third down into the end zone, and LSU-committed defensive tackle Richard Anderson, Alcorn State-committed linebacker Kevin Martin Jr. and company slammed the door shut on the Patriots’ lone overtime opportunity.
The victory for Edna Karr improved LHSAA schools’ record against out-of-state opponents to 8-0 on the evening.
“Listen, this game made me think about all the past games that we missed with such great players like Destyn Hill and Aaron Anderson who were supposed to play Heritage and A.J. Samuel and Leonard Kelly and all those quarterbacks that were supposed to play Heritage,” Brown said. “But John did a good job to say he was under so much pressure, but hats off to Heritage — they’ve got a great team.”
