Edna Karr finally broke through in the second quarter Saturday and then spent the second half turning a highly anticipated Division-I Select into a domination and coronation in an electric hometown Caesars Superdome.
The No. 1 Cougars (14-0) combined five takeaways and a dominant rushing performance to blow open a 49-14 defeat of No. 3 St. Augustine (12-2) for a 27th straight victory and second straight state championship.
“I’m just so proud of this team and this coaching staff, because this is a special group,” Edna Karr coach Brice Brown said. “You’ll probably never see this again: 15 (early) signees, and we just added another one this week… and we’re just so proud of these guys, because they exemplify what’s good about our city. And I think we can’t speak more about their character. We know they’re great athletes, but the men that are sitting among us is the special part.”
Edna Karr managed to largely control early field position with its defense and special teams, even as the offense took time to find its rhythm and had its most promising first-quarter possession come up short at the goal line.
The Cougars forced St. Augustine to punt out of its own end zone early in the second, started in the red zone after a solid return by senior wide receiver Gregory Wilfred (West Virginia) and cashed in a John Johnson III (West Virginia) goal-line keeper five plays later.
Edna Karr — and, for that matter, Johnson — didn’t slow down much from there.
The Cougars extended their lead with touchdowns on their next two possessions — a 1-yard run by senior back Tre Garrison (Washington State) and a 13-yard pass from Johnson to Wilfred — while continuing to shut out the Purple Knights well into the third quarter.
“Coming into the game, we knew it was gonna be a hot game,” said LSU-signed defensive tackle Richard Anderson. “Sometimes our offense starts slow, so we just came out with a hot head and tried to get them the ball back and get them going, so that’s really what it was.”
St. Augustine got on the board with a 90-yard interception return by senior linebacker Chad Jones Jr. and an 88-yard kick return by junior wide receiver Derrick Bennett Jr.
But Edna Karr’s big offensive line and a career performance by Garrison leaned on the Purple Knights more and more as the contest wore on, and Johnson capped three of the Cougars’ five second-half possessions with short touchdown runs.
And senior defensive back Torrence “Toe” Sanders scooped a fourth-quarter fumble and dashed his way 73 yards to a relative victory cigar that took the air out of any lingering St. Augustine comeback hopes with just over four minutes to play.
“I think the third quarter, that’s when the game really fell apart of the opponent, because we ran a lot of clock playing a physical brand of football,” Brown said. “And then defensively we did a good job of mixing coverages and mixing fronts. You know, we played some odd, we played some even, we played some man-free, we played some zero, we played some quarters. That’s something we didn’t do the first (meeting with St. Augustine). The preparation that goes into these type of games is just unquestionable.”
Johnson scored four times on 11 carries for 20 yards and completed 15 of his 18 passes for 169 yards and his touchdown pass to Wilfred, who led all receivers with five catches for 80 yards.
Garrison earned the team’s Outstanding Player honors with 41 carries for 183 yards and a touchdown.
“Tre with 41 carries, that’s amazing,” Brown said. “I don’t think we ever did that in our school history because we like to throw it so much, but just so proud of him.”
And the Edna Karr defense held St. Augustine to a season-low 14 points — none on offense — behind LSU signees Richard Anderson up front and Aiden Hall in the middle of the field and a balanced all-around performance.
Junior linebacker Ian Gray made a pair of diving interceptions of deflected passes, and Hall and junior defensive end Juelz Batiste joined Sanders in fumble recoveries.
Six different Cougars were credited with between three and five tackles, including senior linebackers Kevin Martin Jr. (Nicholls State) and Kylon Jones with five, including one each behind the line of scrimmage.
“That’s the talent of this team,” Brown said after rattling off a list of his college-bound players. “And that’s why St. Aug couldn’t generate an offensive touchdown, because a lot of those guys are on defense. And then when they go on defense, they’ve gotta run around and run after John and run after Tre. So this is an expectation at Karr, but it’s the standard.”
Senior quarterback Vashaun “Tig” Coulon led St. Augustine’s offense with 171 yards on 13-for 23 passing, and sophomore Khlil Lewis rushed eight times for 48 yards.
And Chad Jones Jr., senior safety Clinton Hill Jr. and sophomore edge rusher Darren Coates Jr. led the Purple Knights’ defense with 16, 15 and 10 tackles, respectively, including a stop each behind the line of scrimmage.
Jones earned the team’s Outstanding Player honors with his productive tackling performance and defensive touchdown.
“I’m just proud of these guys and proud of the work we’ve put in two years to get to this point,” St. Augustine coach Robert Valdez said. “You know, always disappointing, you want to win. You go 12-1, and you have a chance. I think we had a chance. I think we’ve got to get back as coaches and players and reflect a little bit on some miscues. You play the No. 1 team in the state and a team that hasn’t lost in 26 games, you can’t have that type of mistakes.
“It got to the point where it was 28-14, and we were trying to put ourselves in position, and we pressed a little bit, and they were Johnny On The Spot and got some turnovers. We had six turnovers, and that can’t happen. But, like I said, it’s a testament to the work we’ve been doing through the whole year to get to this point. And, like I said, we’ll lick our wounds, and we’ll regroup and start back in January with a goal to get back up here again.”
The LHSAA announced a Saturday attendance of 34,500 fans for the final, two-game day of the three-day, eight-game Prep Classic state championship event.
Crowds for the all-New Orleans finale of two of two proud programs with two of the state’s most passionate fan base extended well beyond the typical bottom-bowl seating and into higher levels.
“I think that’s why you play against American Heritage (Florida) and Baton Rouge Catholic and Evangel and all these other teams is because the stage has already been set,” Brown said. “We played in so many venues with so many people, but this is the biggest venue. I think playing early in the Superdome against Heritage helped us out with a little bit of the jitters, playing under the lights… But, man, I’m telling you these guys could play anybody anywhere — I’m talking about any team in the nation, and we’ll line up against ’em and play ’em, because they’re fearless.
“And it takes courage, and it takes outstanding gamesmanship, too. They play the game well, between the plays … against just not only a good (St. Augustine) team in our city. That was probably the second-best team in the state in St. Augustine, playing in one of the toughest districts in the nation.”
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
SECOND QUARTER
10:00 — EK — John Johnson III 1-yard run (Brayan Castello kick) — EK 7-0
8:05 — EK — Tre Garrison 1-yard run (Brayan Castello kick) — EK 14-0
4:06 — EK — Gregory Wilfred 13-yard pass from John Johnson III (Brayan Castello kick) — EK 21-0
THIRD QUARTER
7:50 — SA — Chad Jones Jr. 90-yard interception return (Darren Coates Jr. kick) — EK 21-7
3:59 — EK — John Johnson III 3-yard run (Brayan Castello kick) — EK 28-7
3:47 — SA — Derrick Bennett Jr. 88-yard kickoff return (Darren Coates Jr. kick) — EK 28-14
FOURTH QUARTER
5:09 — EK — John Johnson III 1-yard run (Brayan Castello kick) — EK 35-14
4:08 — EK — Torrence Sanders 73-yard fumble return (Brayan Castello kick) — EK 42-14
3:05 — EK — John Johnson III 1-yard run (Brayan Castello kick) — EK 49-14