Eye-catchers from Edna Karr vs. St. Augustine state championship

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On a weekend of largely close title games and even some crazy finishes, Edna Karr left no doubts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The No. 1 Cougars (14-0) finally broke through with three second-quarter touchdowns in its defensive battle early with District 9-5A rival St. Augustine (12-2) and then cruised to a 49-14 victory for their 27th straight win and second straight state championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's a look at some of the eye-catching standouts from the Division-I Select finale.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='710991' first='Richard' last='Anderson'] — 6-4, 330 DL — Edna Karr (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The big LSU signee wrapped his high school career battling double- and triple-teams all night and still managing to make his presence felt as he freed up teammates for plays, generated some push in the middle, clogged running lanes, got his hands into passing lanes, chased down plays to the outside.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1610129' first='Juelz' last='Batiste'] — 6-3, 210 EDGE — Edna Karr (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like Anderson, Batiste's tackle number didn't pop off the box score, but the junior defensive end made at least one stop behind the line of scrimmage, flat-out ripped away a fumble in traffic, got his hands in passing lanes and just generally flew around the field and disrupted plays. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1736616' first='Tre' last='Garrison'] — <strong>5-11, 190 RB </strong>— Edna Karr (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Washington State signee was a workhorse for his current Cougars with 183 yards and a touchdown on 41 carries, a workload that coach Brice Brown said was far-and-away the most Garrison had shouldered thus far in his career. The monster performance was impressive and important to put together some success against a good St. Augustine defense and accounted for nearly half Edna Karr's total yardage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1248269' first='Ian' last='Gray'] — 6-1, 190 LB — Edna Karr (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For all the college-bound talent in the secondary, the junior linebacker was the Cougars' standout able to come away with both of the team's interceptions in the title game with great awareness, reaction and hands to corral deflected passes </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='920629' first='John' last='Johnson'] III — 5-11, 190 QB/ATH — Edna Karr (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The West Virginia signee finished a prolific prep career with an efficient, five-touchdown performance — 11 rushes for 20 yards and four scores and 15-for-18 passing for 169 yards and a score — without a turnover. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1601790' first='Kevin' last='Martin Jr.'] — 5-10, 200 LB — Edna Karr (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Nicholls State signee was once again a tone-setter for the Cougars with his hard-hitting tackles and quarterback hurries. The box score listed him with four stops in all, including one of the team's two sacks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1602024' first='Torrence' last='Sanders'] — 6-2, 185 DB — Edna Karr</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Washington State signee joined the rest of the Cougars' defensive backs in great coverage throughout the night, was also among the team's leading tacklers with five stops and alerted scooped a fourth-quarter fumble and returned it for a long touchdown. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='710969' first='Gregory' last='Wilfred'] — 5-9, 180 WR — Edna Karr (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson's fellow West Virginia-bound classmate was his top target in the passing game for their final high school game, catching five passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, and was also a spark in the return game with a pair of punt returns for 22 yards — the first of which appeared headed much farther before a penalty brought it all the way back. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Derrick Bennett Jr. — 5-10, 165 WR — St. Augustine (2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A week after his huge performance and game-winning touchdown in the semifinals, Bennett made his biggest splash in the return game with an 88-yard touchdown return highlighting 128 yards on three opportunities. He also caught four passes for 28 yards. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='401948' first='Clinton' last='Hill Jr.'] — 5-11, 190 DB — St. Augustine (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The senior safety was among the top tacklers of not just the game, but the entire weekend with 15 stops, including eight solo and at least one for loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1237618' first='Chad' last='Jones Jr.'] — 5-11, 225 LB — St. Augustine (2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The son of legendary LSU safety Chad Jones wrapped his high school career as his team's Outstanding Player selection in the Superdome with a game-high 16 tackles, including one for loss, and a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->