For Edna Karr, this is more of the same.
Another return trip to the Caesars Superdome. Another chance at winning a state championship. Another chance at posting an undefeated record.
While St. Augustine supporters celebrate the chance to play for a state title in the Dome for the first time in nearly five decades, Karr can have the been-there, done-that approach to the LHSAA Division I select state final set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
St. Augustine defensive line coach Matt Brown played on the 2000 St. Augustine team that reached the state semifinals and came up short agains…
Dual-threat quarterback John Johnson is a third-year starter and was selected as the outstanding player in the state final last season after he accounted for more than 350 rushing and passing yards and five touchdowns in a 53-8 drubbing of Alexandria. Also back from that team last season is defensive tackle Richard Anderson, an LSU signee who made a big-time impact on the final last season with six tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including one for a safety.
Aiden Hall, another LSU signee, returned an interception for a touchdown to help initiate the running clock midway through the third quarter on the way to the school’s seventh football state championship.
The three seniors are among 15 Karr players already signed to play football in college, all of them early qualifiers who will attend college starting in January.
“It’s really a beautiful thing, especially the way they’ve done it academically, all of them going to school early,” Karr coach Brice Brown said. “To have them here in their last game, going against their city rival, you know, the picture can’t be painted much better for them. The only thing left is to do some clean-up things and we have to finish the job on Saturday.”
Karr can take a business-as-usual approach because the Cougars have reached this point so many times in the past. The Cougars have won five state titles in the past nine seasons, all of them with Brown as the head coach.
Karr, a seven-time state winner since the first title in 1993, departed the Superdome last season knowing it would have several key contributors back from that team.
“With any team, the expectation as Karr is to do it again,” said Brown, whose team has won 26 consecutive games since it last lost in a state semifinal two years ago against Acadiana.
“My thought was, no excuses,” said Johnson, a West Virginia signee. “We bring a lot of people back from last season, especially on defense. So, it’s really no excuses, taking it game by game and not getting complacent.”
Johnson threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores as he completed 26 of 35 passes for 342 yards in a 42-21 victory the first time Karr faced St. Augustine this season.
Karr took a 21-7 lead into the break, and Johnson led a 99-yard touchdown drive after the Karr defense made a fourth-down stop at the 1 to start the second half.
Karr would like nothing more than to have a repeat performance, one that would land the Cougars yet another state championship.
