Quarterfinal Showdown – Tough Defense and Misuces Decide Final Between State Championship Teams.
Content Creator: Jo Eddlemon Recruit Louisiana
Full Game Highlights:
It was a meeting of two former state championship teams that are rich in the history of Louisiana High School Football. The game was sure to bring the fans and media out on Friday night.
The Catholic High Bears hosted the Edna Karr Cougars in the Quarterfinal Round of the Division 1 Select Playoff Bracket. It was haled to be the game of the week and those who were in attendance saw two teams leave it ALL on the field. In the end, The Bears of Catholic High Baton Rouge would prevail 32-24 over the Cougars.
Catholic High was on the board first when junior quarterback Daniel Beale threw a touchdown strike to LSU Commit and Senior WR Shelton Sampson who took the pass and went 53-yards for the touchdown. Beale would throw for his second touchdown to push the lead to 14-0 on a 78-yard catch and run to Bradley Wright. Senior kicker Landon Carter would add a 47-yard field goal to extend the Bears lead to 17-0 lead in the second quarter.
Edna Karr would answer when A J Samuel would scramble for 16 yards setting up a 5 yard run by Chairs Vasquez to get the Cougars on the board right before the half.
The extra point would be no good and the Bears would take a 17-6 lead at halftime.
In the 3rd quarter, Vasquez would plow into the endzone for his second touchdown for the Courgars to cut into the Bears lead 17-12. It remain 17-12 until the beginning of the fourth quarter when the Cougars picked up momentum and took the lead 18-17 on a Deantre Jackson’s 23-yard touchdown run.
With all the momentum shifting towards the Cougars the Black Hat D for the Bears needed to make a stand. Catholic High’s Bennett Castro would recover an Edna Karr fumble and give the ball back to the offense. Junior running back Ryland Parker would take the handoff and scamper 14-yards for the touchdown for the Bears to regain the lead 25-18 (two point conversion good).
In the wanning minutes left in the game, Catholic’s Black Hat D would again step up as Colin Coates would come off the edge and be bounced into A J Samuel to create a perfect sack opportunity on fourth down. The Bears would take over at Karr’s own 13-yard line. Beale would call his own number and rumble into the endzone from 2-yards to put the Bears up 32-18.
A.J. Samuels and the Cougars offense would strike quickly hitting #17 Makhi Paris for a 24-yard touchdown to make it a 32-24 game with 24 seconds left to play. Edna Karr would set for an onside kick. Catholic High would recover the onside kick and run out the rest of the clock to move on to the Division I (Select) Semifinals with a 32-24 win over Edna Karr.
Edna Karr ends its season at 7-4 overall. AJ Samuel ended his night 12 of 24 passes for 140 yards and 1 touchdown, he would add 56 yards on the ground.
The Catholic Bears improved to 11-1 (10th win in a row) and will host John Curtis in the semifinals at Memorial next Friday night.
Ryland Parker led the way rushing for the Bears with 98 yards and a touchdown. Bradley Wright and Shelton Sampson both had touchdown receptions. Daniel Beale would end his night with 9-27-2 197 yards passing 2 TD’s, 1 rushing TD of 2 yards, 2 pt conversion.
Defensive Player Of The Game for the Bears – Senior Linebacker Harold Lawson. Lawson was a tackling machine for the Bears against Edna Karr. He recorded 12 Tackles on the night, (10 UA – 2 A) and 2.5 TFL.
Defensive Player Of The Game for the Cougars – Senior Defensive End and TCU Commit Jonathan Bax.
More To Come….
