The LHSAA crowned eight new football champions at the Superdome in the Prep Classic, and some of those games made history.
For the first two times in Prep Classic history, games went to running clocks in the second half due to the blowout nature of those games.
In the Division I Non-Select title game, Central out of East Baton Rouge Parish annihilated Ruston, 42-0.
Under LHSAA rules, when a team builds a 42-point lead at or after halftime, the rest of the game is played under a running clock in an effort to get the game over with as quickly as possible.
The Wildcats went into the locker room at halftime leading 35-0 and received the second half kickoff, so it appeared that it would be a matter of time before the game would shift to a running clock.
The Bearcats, however, kept Central off the scoreboard until the 4th quarter.
“Nobody gave us much of an opportunity to win this football game,” said Central coach David Simoneaux after the game, alluding to the fact that nearly everyone had picked Ruston to win. “And I thought our kids were confident through it all and just continued to prepare to perform each and every single day, no matter what type of outside noise and what type of naysayers there were. And I think they were confident in their ability to just trust and respect one another and what one of these guys do for another on daily basis. This is a close knit group.”
Ruston was making its third straight appearance in the Prep Classic, having beaten Zachary last year and losing to Destrehan two years ago.
The blowout loss had Ruston coach Jerrod Baugh searching for answers.
“For whatever reason or another, I didn’t get our guys ready to play,” said Baugh. “And I’ll take full responsibility for that. That’s what my job is; and somewhere or another, it fell through the cracks. So this one game doesn’t define who these guys are up here. And they know that. They know I love them regardless of what that score turned out to be.”
The Central-Ruston game was the second game in Prep Classic history to go to a running clock in the 2nd half; the first was the game that immediately preceded it.
In the Division I Select championship game, Edna Karr out of New Orleans scored early and scored often and pounded Alexandria Senior High, 53-8.
It took the Cougars only 33 seconds to get on the scoreboard as Aiden Hall intercepted a pass and ran it into the end zone from 32 yards out.
Edna Karr added to their lead 1:19 later with a Taron Francis 46-yard touchdown catch from John Johnson, and the Cougars were on cruise control from that point on.
Edna Karr scored two safeties on back-to-back Alexandria possessions in the 2nd quarter, believed to be the first time in Prep Classic history that a team scored two safeties in one game.
(In the NFL, it’s happened 19 teams, most recently in Week 1 this season when the Broncos scored two safeties against the Seahawks.)
Edna Karr coach Brice Brown said the emphatic win is a testament to the quality of talent in New Orleans.
“The perception is we have players from Texas and Arkansas and Mississippi, but I can tell you one thing: these guys are homegrown from New Orleans, Louisiana,” said Brown. “And I think that makes it even better that our homegrown talent can pick a high school like Edna Karr High School which exemplifies not only great athletics but great academics.”
Alexandria had its chances, intercepting Johnson four times, with Jaquarian Frazier accounting for three of those picks.
ASH coach Thomas Bachman said the stinging loss does not take away from an incredible season for the Trojans.
“I could not be prouder as a coach (and) as a man to sit here with this group of young men and to make it back over to that locker room (and) spend some time with those kids,” said Bachman. “Been a lot to get to this point. It’s incredible. That’s the thing. Man, they have worked their tail off. No matter what anybody told them, they kept believing. I’m proud of them.”
Whereas Saturday’s games were over by halftime, the three games Friday night had fans at the edge of their seats right up until the final whistle.
In the Division II Non-Select championship, Cecilia took their 18th seed and beat Franklinton, 35-32, scoring the championship-winning touchdown in spectacular fashion with 1:17 left in the 4th quarter.
A Franklinton defender tipped a Diesel Solari pass right into the hands of receiver Ellis Stewart, who ran it into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.
“I think this thing is more about this senior class and what they’ve done for this program,” said Cecilia coach Dennis Skains after the game. “It’s been an unbelievable four years. A lot of those guys have been playing for three and four years, Diesel obviously one of them. Just the exclamation point they put on their legacy for this program.”
In the Division III Select championship, yet another comeback bid by Dunham fell just short, as Catholic High-New Iberia held on to win, 31-28.
Catholic-New Iberia led by 17 in the fourth quarter before Dunham scored two touchdowns to pull to within a field goal and had blocked a punt to get the ball back in the red zone with under two minutes remaining in the game.
However, that’s where the Tigers’ magic ran out.
In the waning moments of the game, Dunham had the ball and was driving for the game-tying or game-winning score and had a 4th down on the Panthers’ 3 yard line.
Instead of a chip shot field goal to tie the game, Coach Neil Weiner went for it, but Elijah Haven’s pass was intercepted by Karon Eugene in the end zone, ending Dunham’s dreams of a state title.
Dunham came from behind in the previous two rounds — against Lafayette Christian and Bunkie — to reach the Prep Classic.
After the game, Panthers Coach Matt Desormeaux was relieved — and ecstatic.
“What most people don’t know about this group of guys is they’ve never won a playoff football game up until this year. So to do what they did is so special.”
In the early game Friday, Archbishop Shaw beat E.D. White, 28-25.
The two teams entered the 4th quarter tied, before Shaw scored two straight touchdowns.
E.D. White tried coming back, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
In Thursday’s action, Sterlington beat St. James in the Division III Non-Select title game, 35-28.
South Plaquemines won the Division IV Non-Select title by beating Haynesville, 20-7.
And in the Division IV Select championship, Vermillion Catholic beat Ouachita Christian, 33-21.
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