Total domination: that phrase is the perfect description of the Edna Karr Cougars’ performance in Saturday’s Division I Select state championship game.
Karr beat the Alexandria Trojans 53-8 to win the championship, their first state title since 2019. Quarterback John Johnson was named the game’s outstanding player. Johnson scored five total touchdowns, two passing and three rushing, and accounted for 358 of Karr’s 512 offensive yards.
The Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game when Aiden Hall intercepted Alexandria quarterback Karsen Sellers and returned the ball 32 yards for a touchdown. Karr’s defense limited set the tone for the game, holding Alexandria to 188 yards of total offense and recording two safeties in the second quarter. Defensive lineman Richard Anderson was responsible for one of those safeties, scoring the two points on his lone sack of the day. Anderson, a six-foot-three-inch, 330-poind junior, recorded seven total tackles.
Alexandria’s lone touchdown came in the waning seconds of the first half when quarterback Max Gassiot ran for a five-yard touchdown.
Gassiot then connected with receiver Alex Fontenot for a successful two-point conversion.
Taron Francis was on the receiving end of both of Johnson’s passing touchdowns, scoring on a 46-yard catch and run and a 22-yard reception in the end zone.
Karr running back Bryant Sanchez ran for 111 yards and a touchdown, scoring on a one-yard carry in the third quarter.
The final 10 minutes of the game were played with a running clock. It’s the first time since the National Federation of High School Associations adopted the 42-point mercy rule in 2023 that it has been used in a Louisiana state championship game.