Edna Karr was getting quickly backed into the red zone late Friday with the semifinal battle, its title defense and its state-best winning streak on the line.
Catholic-Baton Rouge was finally mounting the most productive drive by either team of defensive slug fest of a second half, moving the chains on key third and fourth downs and quickly starting to bear down toward the goal line.
But seniors Kylon Jones and Cornell Williams III and junior Ronell Kindell Jr. swarmed a ball-carrier at about the 12-yard line, jarring loose a fumble that defensive end Romeo “Ro” Brown would pounce on and help seal the 17-10 victory.
“I knew one of my guys was gonna make a play,” smiled Brown, who signed Wednesday with Nicholls State. “I knew I just had to be the one to fall on it and recover it and protect it like my baby.”
The recovery secured the No. 1 Cougars (13-0) a berth in next week’s Division-I Select title game against Catholic League rival No. 3 St. Augustine (12-1).
Edna Karr, the defending champion, has now won 26 straight games and is one of just three remaining teams with an opportunity to repeat in their respective divisions.
Both the Cougars and No. 4 Bears (10-3) had been stout defensively from start to finish, holding one another to far-and-away their season-low scoring outputs and combining for several third- and fourth-down stops.
But Edna Karr coach Brice Brown pointed to takeaways — interceptions by Maurice Williams Jr. (Colorado), Aiden Hall (LSU) and Jones, plus the fumble recovery — and a plus-3 turnover margin as the critical difference.
“The turnovers, the turnovers,” he said. “I think without those turnovers we would’ve been dead in the water, but I think the defensive line and linebackers played exceptionally well, especially the DBs playing so much man-to-man tonight.”
This story will be updated…
