Replay: Karr uses second-quarter outburst to roll past Holy Cross, 47-17

NEW ORLEANS – The last two Friday nights, Edna Karr waited until after halftime to get things rolling in eventual victories over Brother Martin and Jesuit.

In front of a Homecoming crowd at Morris Jeff Stadium, the Cougars had to rally again, but this time the explosion came late in the second quarter of an eventual 47-17 victory over Holy Cross.

The matchup of the top two teams in the Catholic League standings was seen live on Crescent City Sports.

Karr (7-0, 4-0) trailed 14-6 after Ke’Rynn Smith’s second touchdown run of the night with 7:36 left in the first half. It was then that the Cougar offense – and defense – took over.

Sophomore quarterback John Johnson engineered a six-play, 65-yard drive capped by a 36-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Wilson, and then connected with LSU commitment Taron Francis for the two-point conversion to tie the game with 5:21 left before halftime.

On Holy Cross’ ensuing drive, Arsenio Bolds intercepted a third-down pass to put the Cougars in business at the Tigers 37. Karr needed just four plays with Daejawn Smith scoring on a 15-yard run to go ahead to stay with 3:23 to play in the half.

Aiden Hall’s interception and return to the Holy Cross 4 on the next possession, and Johnson turned a near-disaster of a high snap into a 4-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 27-14 with 2:27 left in the half.

When it was done, the Cougars had rattled off 20 points in the span of 2:54 to take control.

Holy Cross (6-2, 3-2) would get a field goal from Noel Mora on the first possession of the second half to pull within 10 points, but Karr answered on the next possession with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Wilson to make it 34-17.

After a Tiger punt, Johnson connected with Francis on a 41-yard scoring toss on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Four plays later, Corey Adams capped the complete Cougar effort with a strip of quarterback Cole Canatella and a 65-yard return for a touchdown.

Johnson had strings of 12 and 11 consecutive completions and finished 24 of 27 for 310 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 29 yards and another score. Francis caught six passes for 160 yards and a score while Wilson had three catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Canatella was 17 of 25 passing for 168 yards.

Next Friday, Karr can clinch a second consecutive 9-5A title with a win over Archbishop Rummel at Southeastern Louisiana’s Strawberry Stadium. Holy Cross will meet Jesuit for the 104th time at Tad Gormley.