By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
The 40-point streak is over.
But the winning streak isn’t.
And the Alexandria Senior High Trojans are headed to the Caesars Superdome for the first time in school history.
JT Lindsey rushed for 247 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high 41 carries to carry No. 2 ASH to a 24-13 victory over No. 19 John Curtis in the Division I Select semifinals on Friday.
“We knew it was gonna take all four quarters with a program like that,” ASH coach Thomas Bachman said. “We knew it was gonna be a battle. I’m proud of our kids. They found a way.”
The Trojans’ high-powered offense had scored 40 or more points in every game before Friday, but they went nearly the entire first half without getting on the scoreboard as the two teams traded defensive stands.
On their fifth drive of the game, after picking up just two first downs over their first four, the Trojans (13-0) found their rhythm and marched 90 yards on 16 plays to find the end zone for the first time.
As they have done most of the season, the Trojans leaned on the talented legs of Lindsey, their senior running back who signed with LSU last week. Lindsey carried the ball 10 times on the drive, breaking off runs of 10, 10, 13 and 10 yards before scoring on a 3-yard run with just over a minute to play before halftime to give ASH a 7-0 lead.
The ensuing kickoff bounced off the helmet of a John Curtis returner and was recovered by ASH senior Kartez Simon to set up the Trojans’ second score.
JT Curtis, the legendary Patriots head coach, lamented the mistakes his team made Friday night, including eight fumbles.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many balls hit us in the facemask,” he said. “That kickoff … he lost it in the lights. It hit him in his facemask and bounced right to them.”
Two plays after Simon’s recovery, ASH sophomore quarterback Karsen Sellers hit senior tight end Tanner Townsend for a 26-yard touchdown.
After not scoring for almost 23 minutes of game action, the Trojans found themselves with a 14-0 lead at halftime and set to receive the kickoff to start the second half.
Bachman said that two-score sequence before halftime was pivotal for the Trojans.
“The 90-yard drive and then we get the kickoff and they muff it,” he said. “We get it and were able to score again there right before half. That was a huge sequence to kind of create a little bit of separation.”
Sellers drove the Trojans to the Curtis 5-yard line on the opening drive of the third quarter, but they were unable to finish with a third straight touchdown, settling for a 22-yard field goal by Channing Meche and a 17-0 lead.
As the Trojans appeared poised to run away with the victory, the Curtis offense woke up, taking advantage of Sellers’ second interception of the game. Senior quarterback Reggie Johnson broke free off right tackle for a 61-yard touchdown with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter to cut the Trojans’ lead to 17-6.
As he has done all season, though, Lindsey answered with an explosive run, going 61 yards untouched just two plays later to give ASH a 24-6 lead.
“We knew that it was only a matter of time,” Bachman said, “if JT got a crease, that he was gonna pop one, and sure enough he did.”
Johnson responded again for the Patriots, this time hitting Jacobi Boudreaux for a 38-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that trimmed the Trojans’ lead to 24-13.
From that point on, the Trojan defense rose to the occasion, making two key fourth-down stops late in the game to keep Curtis out of the end zone and lock up their first trip to the Superdome.
After struggling defensively in last week’s victory against Byrd, Bachman said he was confident in the Trojans’ ability to stop Curtis.
“Anybody that’s been around, we’ve been saying that for a long time — put a ball down and compete,” Bachman said. “Our kids have really embraced that through the years and certainly this team has. … We made the plays when we had to.”
ASH held the Patriots’ vaunted veer rushing attack to just 172 yards on the ground in the game, with 61 of Johnson’s team-high 81 yards coming on his touchdown run. Not normally known for passing, Johnson completed 10 of 21 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Curtis fumbled eight times in the game, losing three of them, and was penalized 12 times for 110 yards.
“Too many mistakes. For whatever reason, too many mistakes,” Curtis said. “Some of them were uncaused, and that’s on us. We’ve got to do a better job as a team. We’ve got to do a better job coaching and try to eliminate that. Some of those (offensive mistakes) popped back up, and you can’t do that against a good team.”
Bachman led the Trojans to a state runner-up finish in 2020, but that championship game was played at Northwestern State’s Turpin Stadium during the first post-Covid season.
This time the Trojans will get to make a long-awaited trip to New Orleans to play in the LHSAA Prep Classic at the Superdome, becoming the first team from Rapides Parish to do so in the nearly 50-year history of the event.
ASH will meet top-seeded Edna Karr next Saturday at noon in a battle of unbeatens to decide the state title. Karr edged Catholic-Baton Rouge 21-19 Friday night.