Redemption or Reclamation? Division I Select Title Hinges on ASH vs. Edna Karr
by: Mike Strom // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Saturday, Dec. 14 | 12:00 p.m. | Caesars Superdome | New Orleans, LA
Tickets | Watch – NFHS Network ($) | Watch – LHSAA Network TV App (Free)
Distance To Caesars Superdome: Alexandria (189.5 miles), Edna Karr (5.7 miles)
The cream has risen to the top of Division I Select football.
Alexandria Senior High and Karr have yet to taste defeat as the final two undefeated teams in Division I Select prepare to decide a championship in Saturday’s state final.
Kickoff in the penultimate matchup of eight championship games being played in the 44th annual Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA Prep Classic is scheduled for noon in the Caesars Superdome.
Top-seeded Karr (12-0) and No. 2 ASH (13-0) each have added three state playoffs victories to their regular-season totals following a first-round bye, but now have only one more mountain to climb.
The championship game represents a reprise of last year’s thrilling state quarterfinals pairing in which Karr, leading by 20 points in the second half, survived a 40-34 upset bid in the friendly confines of Morris Jeff Stadium in Algiers. The outcome was not decided until Karr squashed an ASH rally by recovering an onside kick in the closing moments to kneel out the clock.
However, the rematch is being played on a neutral field in the Superdome.
A year ago, ASH coach Thomas Bachman said after the defeat: “A lot of people look down on the football played in central Louisiana, but we’re trying to put an end to that. One day we hope to have a program like (Karr has) here and be on that Superdome carpet lifting a trophy.’’
Has that day arrived?
Bachman has no intention of poking the bear.
Not as ASH attempts to win its first state championship in football while facing a former six-time state champion whose last Prep Classic appearance was in 2020, a 35-19 loss to Carenco in Natchitoches. Karr’s defeat broke a string of four consecutive state crowns won by Coach Brice Brown’s Cougars from 2016 to 2019.
“Karr is a great football team,’’ Bachman said. “Coach Brown does a great job. His staff has these guys coached up. There are a lot of talented players running around that are skilled. You see that they’re coached. We have a lot of respect for them.’’
The feeling of respect is mutual among the Cougars, although the three-time reigning District 9-5A Catholic League champions established their 2024 mission months ago “to reclaim what was lost.’’ The theme hasn’t changed regardless of the opponent.
Now in its third year of Class 5A competition, Karr also has the opportunity to win its first state championship as a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s highest classification.
“We don’t talk to (the players) about winning a 5A title for the first time,’’ Karr offensive coordinator John Johnson said. “We talk to them about finishing what we started. The theme this year has been to reclaim what we lost and take our rightful place back in Louisiana where we believe we belong.
“But we had to go out and work for it. Now we’re at a point where we get to show it on a big stage again and we’re finally there.’’
Karr in order has dispatched No. 17 Huntington, 56-6, in regionals following a first-round bye, then downed No. 8 St. Thomas More, 42-14, in the quarterfinals and next defending state champion and No. 4 seed Catholic-Baton Rouge, 21-19, in last week’s state semifinals. All three games were played at Morris Jeff Stadium in Algiers.
ASH is making its second Prep Classic appearance, but first in the Superdome. The program’s first trip came in 2020 when the entire Prep Classic was moved to Northwestern State’s Harry “Rags’’ Turpin Stadium in Natchitoches due to lingering Covid restrictions governing stadium attendance and possible cancellation of indoor events.
The Trojans have downed No. 18 Evangel, 49-6, in regionals following a first-round bye, then defeated No. 10 Byrd, 43-32, in the quarterfinals and finally No. 19 John Curtis, 24-13, in last week’s semifinals. Similar to Karr, all three games were played at home at J.L. “Butch’’ Stoker Stadium in Alexandria.
None of those opponents carry the credentials of the Cougars, nor the offensive firepower or defensive brute force that Karr employs with players such as junior quarterback John Johnson and senior wide receivers Taron Francis, Daejawn Smith, and Oliver Mitchell on offense and defensive tackles Corey Adams and Richard Anderson, linebackers Arsenio “Ace Bolds, Kevin Martin and Tyrik Brigalia and safeties Cody Morris and Aiden Hall on defense.
The Trojans have first-hand knowledge of what to expect, but that intel is based on a year ago. Then a junior-laden team, these Cougars have matured into a well-oiled machine that cast an almost invincible aura around the New Orleans area and Catholic League in particular.
Karr has gone 18-1, winning the Catholic League two of three times with undefeated records.
“I think we’re excited about the challenge in front of us and that’s the mentality of our team,’’ Bachman said when asked his players dealing with Karr’s aura. “We’re excited to go play another (game). We’re excited about the challenge.
Any aura that may or may not exist, Bachman said, “It hasn’t been discussed, not in our locker room, not in our meetings. We’re focusing on the things that we can control and the job that we need to do.’’
In fairness to Bachman and his Trojans, he has maintained similar pre-game coach-speak throughout this historic season that carries much truth.
“The game of football is about execution,’’ Bachman said. “We need to go execute the things that are called, 11 guys on the same page doing their job. It’s also about players. As coaches, we’ve got to put them in position to make plays and then they’ve got to make the plays.
“There will be some back and forth in that. Certainly, when you go against a great opponent, they are going to make their fair share of great plays. So you execute, you make your plays, but regardless you continue to compete through it all.’’
Senior running back J.T. Lindsey continues to serve as the tip of the spear in ASH’s championship aspirations. The LSU signee has rushed 302 times for 2,361 yards and 33 touchdowns in addition to catching 18 passes for 248 yards and 3 more TDs.
Sophomore Karsen Sellers, one of two quarterbacks employed by ASH, has started all 13 games and completed 108 of 165 passes for 1,718 yards and 27 touchdowns while being intercepted three times.
Wide receivers Darius Washington, Jimmie Duncan, Alex Fontenot, and tight end Taylor Townsend are the top targets with Washington owning team-leading totals of 57 receptions good for 818 yards and 14 touchdowns. Duncan has 35 catches good for 591 yards and 9 TDs, Fontenot has 27 receptions for 472 yards and 5 TDs and Fontenot has 11 catches for 169 yards and 5 TDs.
In last week’s 24-13 semifinal victory against John Curtis, the Trojans scored two touchdowns in the final minutes of the opening half to take a 14-0 advantage at intermission that proved consequential despite Curtis’ second-half rally.
Lindsey carried 41 times for 244 yards and two touchdowns, ASH’s first and third touchdowns of the game. Another explosive effort would go a long way in buoying the Trojans’ championship aspirations.
“It’s obviously going to start there,’’ Bachman said. “J.T. is going to do what he does. He’s going to play hard. He’s going to go execute. He’s going to give everything that he has to his teammates. What the numbers are, I don’t want to get wrapped up in all of that. I know he’s going to play as hard as he can possibly play because that’s what he’s done his entire career here.
“Whatever that ends up being is what it will be. We also need the people around him to play well. He has spearheaded this thing, there is no doubt about it. But this (game) is not at all on his shoulders. We’re going to do this together as a team, as an offensive unit, as a defensive unit, whatever special teams are out there. It takes everybody doing their part for us to have success.’’
Linebackers Xzavier White and Jackson Townsend and safeties Jaden Lewis and Ja’Kyrin Griffin are key ringleaders on defense for ASH which plans to maintain a regular rotation of fresh legs in the defensive line to affect pass rush against John Johnson and the Cougars.
White, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior, leads the Trojans with 174 tackles, including 107 solos, to go with 15 tackles for losses, 2.5 sacks, 13 quarterback pressures, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. Townsend, a 6-foot, 175-pound sophomore, has recorded 97 tackles (49 solos), 5.5 tackles for losses, 1 sack and 2 hurries.
Lewis has a team-leading 4 interceptions with 3 passes broken up, 52 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1 fumble recovery, and Griffin 3 interceptions, 7 passes broken up, and 82 tackles.
Johnson and the Cougars have recorded some pinball machine-like numbers with the junior quarterback and son of the offensive coordinator having passed for 3,201 yards and 32 touchdowns while completing 184 of 279 passes with five passes intercepted.
A two-year starter, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Johnson also leads the Cougars in rushing with 84 carries good for 740 yards and another 13 touchdowns. In 12 games, the junior has totaled 3,941 yards and 45 TDs with his passing and running. Johnson accounted for all three touchdowns against Catholic with his running and passing.
“I thought it was real gutsy,’’ John Johnson, offensive coordinator, said of his son’s performance at quarterback. “I thought he executed the offense. I thought he kept us calm. He kept a cool head in a hot game, which is what you want from your general. No matter what happened, whether it was a big touchdown pass early or getting a three-and-out, he pressed on and we just stayed the course and kept believing that it was going to work out in our favor at the end.’’
Wide receivers Tyron Francis and Daejawn Smith have been the top two receiving threats throughout the season with the LSU signee Francis catching 67 passes for 1,146 yards and 12 touchdowns and Louisiana Tech signee Smith catching 69 passes for 1,136 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Francis, 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, was shut out by Catholic in last week’s semifinals while Smith, 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, had nine receptions good for 129 yards with a 52-yard, second-quarter touchdown catch from Johnson in addition to another 52-yarder in the first half negated by penalty.
“It was a very, very, very hard-fought game,’’ Johnson, Karr’s offensive coordinator, said of the Catholic victory. “Honestly, Catholic showed their championship pedigree in that they weren’t ready to relinquish their title. We had to pry it from their hands at the end of the game, basically. They fought all the way to the end. So hats off to them.
“The game was difficult. We made some plays when we had an opportunity to make them. They did a good job. They attacked protection. They mixed in their zone and their man coverages. They kept us off balance a little bit.
“Fortunately, in the second half, we were able to run the ball a little bit better and get a couple of scores especially in the third quarter that kind of turned the tide our way. And then we basically held on offensively with the defense closing it out in the fourth quarter.’’
John Curtis coach J.T. Curtis has faced both Alexandria and Karr in the past six weeks and gives the edge to the Catholic League champions that defeated his eventual state semifinalists, 35-14, in Week 9 of the regular season.
“Alexandria is a good football team,’’ Curtis said. “The running back obviously is a back that can make plays and has good speed. I don’t know if they can match the physicality of Karr’s defensive front. That’s what (Alexandria has) relied on, being able to sustain some blocks and allowing that (running) back to pick and choose holes and make cuts that have allowed him to make really big plays.
“Their offensive line will have to play extremely well. I just don’t know if there is enough muscle upfront to overcome the size and athleticism of Karr. The quarterbacks (Sellers and Johnson), I think, match up pretty good. I think they’re both good athletes. They both can throw the ball. But I think Karr’s weapons are a little more dominant.
“For Alexandria to be able to win, they’re going to have to stop the Karr passing game or at least have to hold it in check. I don’t know if (Alexandria’s) secondary can match that.
“If Karr plays the way they’ve played in the past and protects the way they’re capable of protecting, it can be a long night for the (Alexandria) secondary. Because (Karr’s quarterback) has so many weapons. (Alexandria) has some weakness in the secondary size-wise and I think the mismatches will be pretty evident as the game rolls on.
In summation, Curtis offers that, “Now, the one factor in these type of games that always comes into play is who shows up. Sometimes over-anxiousness and the length of the season can wear on you. If Karr doesn’t come with their A-game, I think it gives Alexandria a chance to win. If both teams show up with their A-game, I say Karr wins.’’