McDonogh 35 flying below radar on win streak, ready for Karr

While expectations were high going into the season, the focus on McDonogh 35 as a football team has been a bit lower than those lofty expectations.

That is about to change when the Roneagles host Karr Thursday night.

This is a chance for redemption for McDonogh 35 against Karr and a chance to extend a solid win streak.

The Roneagles have won four straight games after falling 6-0 to rival St. Augustine in the season opener for both teams. McDonogh 35 has improved weekly, with the winning streak growing to four with a 35-21 win at Carencro Friday night.

McDonogh 35 reached the Class 4A semifinals a year ago, losing 26-14 to Karr in a rematch game which the Roneagles led for quite some time before succumbing to the eventual state champions.

Speaking on The Three Tailgaters Show on WGSO, 990 AM Saturday morning, long-time Roneagles head coach Wayne Reese liked the way his team handled the trip west.

“When you take kids on the road and you win, it’s a good thing,” Reese said. “Our kids don’t get out of the city that much and to beat a good program like Carencro is a good thing for us. You are going to likely travel at some point in the playoffs. We like to go on the road early in the year to bond together with the kids. It was a good experience for the kids.”

There was significant concern that McDonogh 35 would be looking past the Bears to Karr but that did not occur.

“It’s hard to get the kids to focus when you have Karr next week,” Reese said. “It was really, really hard but I have to give my kids praise. They were ready to play and got the job done. We didn’t have a bad week at all. They were ready to go.”

Nicholls commit LiJohn Howard has been good at quarterback for the Roneagles.

“LiJohn has done a great job at quarterback, Lawrence Keys has been one of the top kids in the state if not the country at wide receiver. He’s doing a great job. He’s been with us a while. Howard has really matured into the type of player to lead your team. He really knows what he is doing. He’s just a hard worker. It is like having your offensive coordinator on the field when you have a kid like LeJohn. He’s like another coach. He knows what to do.”

Reese is bullish on his star safety, Joe Foucha.

“Joe Foucha is one of the most sought after players in the country,” Reese. “We play him anywhere we need to play him. This guy can really turn a defense around with the athletic ability that he possesses. He’s the point guard in basketball, has leaping ability. He can hit and run. He’s got the whole package. We’ve only got two seniors on defense and he really helps get the young guys lined up and playing properly.”

The Roneagles are ready for Karr Thursday night at Tad Gormley. A year ago, Karr crushed McDonogh 35 by a 56-12 count in the regular season. The playoff game was much more competitive. Karr has dominated the series, winning the last nine meetings. The last McDonogh 35 win was a 21-6 victory over the Cougars.

“That’s a rivalry,” Reese said. “It is East Bank-West Bank. Kids know each other. I don’t care what kind of season we my have, it’s going to be a tough football game. They have some of the best collection of athletes in the country and the coaches have done a tremendous job over there getting them ready to play everyone. They lost a whole lot of guys last year but all they have done is retool. This game will help determine how far we will go. Everything you think you can do on a football field, they will let you know where you stand.”

While McDonogh 35 has moved on, the way last season ended will move from the back to the front of the collective team mind this week.

“We put the playoff loss on the back-burner but the kids that are back have not forgotten,” Reese said. “