The Karr Cougars traveled to Baton Rouge to take on Catholic High on a short week due to Hurricane Delta tonight. Both teams entered the contest with unblemished records, coming off exceptional wins the previous week. In a highly anticipated nationally ranked match up.
Karr scored on its opening drive of five plays and in just over a minute. A pass from sophomore quarterback AJ Samuel to junior receiver Aaron Anderson for 21 yards would cap off the Cougars drive. The point after would be no good. Catholic would not be able to score on their opening drive and would punt the ball back to Karr. The Cougars would find the end zone on a big reception by Destyn Hill of 53 yards.
It looked like Karr was going to run away with this game early, the Cougars jumped out to a 20 point lead on the Bears through a quarter and a half of play. Catholic would not find the end zone until a little less than seven and a half minutes left to play in the second quarter. A run by George Hart III from 4 yards out. Catholic looked to be mounting something on defense as well, senior defense lineman Christian Mannino and junior Wes Woodward made back to back stops for the Bears. Getting the ball back to end the half, the Bears took a shot at the end zone. A pass from Landon O’Connor to speedy receiver Sheldon Sampson was incomplete and it looked like time had expired. But one second was put back on the clock and Kylan Dupre was able to kick a 35 yard field goal to cut the Cougar lead in half. “Catholic had a great scheme for us, trying to stop our outside zone,” said head coach Brice Brown.
The Bears were mounting a comeback and would receive the ball after halftime. Catholic senior defensive back Connor Stewart and receiver Matt Reinholtz had nearly 200 yards on kick returns on tonight. Stewart had a long of 50 yards and averaged almost 30 yards a returned. He was electrifying and had the ability to flip the field for the Bears.
Karr quarterback AJ Samuel threw for 329 yards and 3 touchdowns while rushing 25 yards and another score as well. Wide receiver Destyn Hill looked the part of being one of the top recruits in the state, catching seven passes for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Although Samuel was intercepted twice on the night, Karr head coach Brice Brown was happy about the way his young quarterback bounced back. “When you play in the spread offense, you’re going to make mistakes,” Brown said. “He’s a sophomore quarterback, he’s going to make mistakes but I’m really proud of him tonight. That’s a signature win for him. One thing I was really proud of him for was his poise.”
One of the biggest moments in the night came in the second quarter, driving into the Karr red zone, Landon O’Connor threw a beautiful back shoulder pass to Tre’ Benson that somehow was intercepted by Destin Refuge. I’ve watched the clip I recorded at least 20 times, and still don’t understand how he caught it. This is Refuges second interception in as many weeks.
“Our guys are never going to give up,” said head coach Gabe Fertitta. “I am proud of the way they fought there down to the bitter end. There were too many mistakes on our part, and too many penalties, too many missed opportunities. It just took us a little too long to get going. Hats off to the staff at Edna Karr on a short turn around, that is a championship caliber ball club right there.”
Final score Karr 34 Catholic 31
