High school sports seasons off to a rousing start

    Fall may not be in the air yet, but the first sports season is definitely off to a rousing start. And I’m seeing state championship caliber performances in football and volleyball.
    A few observations:
    It didn’t take St. Augustine’s Leonard Fournette long to show a crowd of about 13,000 spectators why he is the nation’s No. 1 running back prospect.
    In just four rushing attempts, the 6-1, 228-pound senior totaled 159 yards with touchdown runs of 65 and 79 yards to the awe of Purple Knight followers and shock of the McDonogh 35 faithful. With the Knights leading, 40-6, he was given the rest of the night off by coach Cyril Crutchfield to save him for this week’s opponent, the reigning Class 4A champion, Edna Karr.
    I’ll check the record over the next few days, but I believe the 47-12 victory over their oldest city rival is a record rout.
    Leonard’s younger brother, Lanard, added two more touchdowns as did wide receiver Stanley Morgan.
    But the star of the show was senior quarterback Toi Jackson, who would get my vote as Catholic school Player of the Week. The 5-10, 180-pound senior was a formidable weapon, completing 16-of-22 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns.
    Karr was nearly as impressive in its 34-12 victory over St. Paul’s on Sept. 6.
    The Wolves were well prepared for the game but no match for Karr’s size, quickness and hitting power.
    Senior quarterback Devante Noil, the Outstanding Player of the 2012  state championship game, was kept out of the game until the second period as punishment for being tardy for a team meeting.
    As it turned out, the Cougars didn’t need him. Back-up Kerry Taylor threw two touchdown passes to open a 14-0 lead before Noil entered the game.
    The Cougars-Knights confrontation on Friday may be the game of the year. Both seem to be evenly matched in size and ability.
Selects take the lead
    The scoreboard after one week of football action in games matching select and non-select schools is 25-16 for the selects.
    There were 41 games between teams from opposite sides of the state playoffs. And the “select” schools  won four of the five classes against their public school counterparts.
    Select schools won 11 of 16 games in match-ups in which at least one of the teams was a Class 5A school. But some non-selects posted impressive victories. Parkway shocked Calvary Baptist, 55-13; Terrebonne crushed Redemptorist, 60-12; Thibodaux defeated Archbishop Shaw, 27-14, and, of course, Karr won over St. Paul’s.
    The selects edged their non-select foes, 4-3, in Class 4A meetings; selects won, 6-3, in Class 3A games and 2-1 in Class 1A.
    The exception occurred in Class 2A where non-select teams won four of six games.
    Week 2 will feature 13 games between the two sides of the playoff brackets in the largest class. Seven non-selects will be the home teams.
    The biggest games will be Karr vs. St. Augustine, Bastrop at Byrd, Evangel at Ouachita and Thibodaux at Vandebilt Catholic.
    Archbishop Rummel will be at Hahnville, Holy Cross at Sulphur, Archbishop Shaw at Fisher and Archbishop Hannan will host Grace King.
    Forty-one games will be played throughout the state this weekend between the two factions. Non-select schools will be the home team in 23.
    The game to watch in the classes below 5A is St. Charles Catholic at East Jefferson on Friday.
    St. Charles Catholic is one of the most competitive teams in its class every season. In East Jefferson, the Comets will find an opponent that was capable of winning its Jefferson Parish 5A district had Principal James Kytle chosen to play up.
Sweet 16 Catholics
    Just ahead is the second annual Catholic League Volleyball Tournament, which matches 16 teams from southeast and southwest Louisiana.
    Ursuline Academy and the Academy of the Sacred Heart will host the Sept. 20-21 matches showcasing some of the state’s top teams.
    Four reigning division champions will be among the field, including Division I titlist Mount Carmel,which edged Fontainebleau, 3-2, for the 2012 crown; Division II champion St. Thomas More, Division III title-holder Ursuline and Division IV winner Notre Dame.
    Ursuline’s championship opponent, E.D. White Catholic, will also join the tournament field.
    Also entered are Archbishop Hannan, Catholic of Pointe Coupee, Central Catholic of Morgan City, De La Salle, Dominican, Pope John Paul II, St. Louis, St. Scholastica, Teurlings and Vandebilt Catholic.
    Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].