Carencro controls second half to dethrone Karr in Class 4A title game

NATCHITOCHES – History was set to be made Tuesday evening on the campus of Northwestern State University.

The Karr Cougars were poised to accomplish a rare feat of five consecutive state championships, accomplished only once before in the century-long history of the LHSAA.

Carencro did not get the memo.

The top-seeded Bears overcame a halftime deficit, dominating the second half in a 35-19 victory over the second-seeded Cougars at Turpin Stadium Tuesday night.

Carencro followed the game plan of coach Tony Courville perfectly.

“I’m extremely proud of these kids and the coaching staff,” Courville said. “Everybody went through different circumstances starting in June. That’s the part of our game plan every week is to wear those guys down. I’ve said this before, we play defense with our offense, and those guys after a while, they get pounded.”

It was an evenly played first quarter.

Karr had a chance to break on top on the first possession of the game after AJ Samuel hit LSU commit Aaron Anderson for 53 yards to the Carencro 17 but Samuel was then intercepted by Jaylen John to kill the drive.

Carencro quarterback Tavion Faulk later lost a fumble, recovered by Tory Morgan of Karr at the Cougar 33-yard line.

The Bears then took the lead, driving 63 yards on seven plays, taking 3:38 off the clock with Traylon Prejean scoring on a 2-yard run to make it 7-0 with 5:35 to play in the first half.

Undaunted, Karr responded to take the lead by halftime.

The Cougars needed just four plays to go 55 yards and Samuel hit Anderson on a 35-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 7-7 with 4:20 to play in the second quarter.

It looked like that would be the halftime score as Karr got the ball back with no timeouts and 30 seconds left at its own 16-yard line.

Cougars head coach Brice Brown had different ideas.

First, Samuel hit Destyn Hill on a 53-yard pass before Samuel hit Anderson with a 31-yard touchdown pass and it was 13-7 after the extra point was blocked with seven seconds left in the half.

Edna Karr with a touchdown just before halftime!

Carencro 7 • Edna Karr 13

Extra point is blocked

:7 left in the first half pic.twitter.com/8gn7ym2ELV

— LHSAA (@LHSAAsports) December 30, 2020

Samuel threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns in the half while Anderson had seven catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns.

Carencro came out smoking in the third quarter.

First, it was a trick play on a halfback pass from Prejean to Jaylen John to give the Bears a 14-13 lead after a made extra point just 49 seconds into the third quarter.

Then, the Bears drove 85 yards in six plays with as Faulk hit a wide-open Ryan Perry on an 18-yard touchdown pass and the two-point conversion was good by Dontae Darjean to make it 22-13 with 6:33 to play in the third quarter.

Karr responded with an eight play, 80-yard drive with Anderson scoring on a 17-yard run. The two-point conversion failed and it was 22-19 with 4:10 to play in the third quarter.

Edna Karr comes back with a touchdown of their own!

Carencro 22 • Edna Karr 19

3:55 remaining in the 3rd quarter pic.twitter.com/QPIjuCkeAj

— LHSAA (@LHSAAsports) December 30, 2020

From that point forward, the Bears had their way.

Kendrell Williams broke free on a 40-yard touchdown run to give the Bears a 28-19 lead with 12 seconds left in the third quarter, completing a seven play, 57-yard drive.

Carencro answers!

Carencro 28 • Edna Karr 19

:12 left in the 3rd quarter pic.twitter.com/KZhXAyHzRC

— LHSAA (@LHSAAsports) December 30, 2020

Carencro put the game away on a 6-yard run by Prejean with 2:06 to play.

Touchdown Carencro! They extend their lead:

Carencro 35 • Edna Karr 19

2:06 remaining pic.twitter.com/h3PfSrldkF

— LHSAA (@LHSAAsports) December 30, 2020

Williams was named the outstanding player of the game for Carencro. He rushed 22 times for 139 yards and a touchdown while Prejean added 25 carries for 115 and two touchdowns on the ground and a third score on his halfback pass.

Anderson was the outstanding player for Karr with seven catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns and one rush for 17 yards and a score. Carencro had the ball for 33:11 to 14:49 for the Cougars.

Samuel finished 12-of-24 for 274 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

In the process, Karr was denied a fifth consecutive state championship, which would have tied the LHSAA prep football record, set by John Curtis Christian. The Patriots won five straight titles from 2004-08.

The Cougars were playing in their 10th state championship game in 11 seasons. The loss also snapped a 24-game playoff win streak for Karr.

“We can’t afford to go three-and-out, especially when the defense is going 10 plays on drives and not stopping them,” Brown said. “We did not play well enough. We will learn from this and we will be back.”

The state championship is the second in Carencro history and the school’s first since 1992.

FINAL
EDNA KARR 0 13 6 0 — 19
CARENCRO 0 7 21 7 — 35

First Downs:
Karr 13
Carencro 18

Penalties:
Karr 7 for 45 yards
Carencro 3 for 16 yards

Turnovers:
Karr 2
Carencro 1

Rushing yards:
Karr 111
Carencro 268

Passing yards:
Karr 282
Carencro 150

Total yards:
Karr 393
Carencro 418