TL;DR
St. Aug and Karr meet Halloween night at Tad Gormley Stadium, both unbeaten, in a rematch of last year’s state championship. Karr won that one 49-14 and brings a 35-game winning streak. St. Aug fans believe this is the year they finally have the better quarterback and the deeper roster. Karr still has the bigger linemen, and that may decide everything.
Key Points
- Both teams enter 8-0. Karr is No. 1 in Class 5A and St. Aug is No. 2.
- Karr beat St. Aug twice last season, including 49-14 in the Division I Select title game.
- St. Aug quarterback Jaelle Noble leads a passing attack loaded with college-bound receivers.
- Karr’s offensive line includes a 6-6, 350-pound tackle. St. Aug’s biggest lineman weighs 290.
- More than 100 college recruiters are expected in the stands.
The St. Aug vs Karr game is the best show in New Orleans on Halloween night, and nobody will need a costume to feel it.
Two unbeaten teams. Two proud Black institutions. One rivalry that has grown into the biggest game in Louisiana high school football. On Friday night at Tad Gormley Stadium, with kickoff at 7 p.m., St. Augustine and Edna Karr meet again, and this one carries the weight of last December.
Karr beat St. Aug 49-14 in the Division I Select state championship at the Superdome. That win finished Karr’s second straight perfect season. Since then the Cougars have kept winning, and they bring a 35-game streak into City Park.
St. Aug has been waiting 10 months for this. So has the rest of the city. More than 12,000 tickets have already been sold, and kickoff is still days away.
The Two Kings of the Catholic League
Let’s be clear about where these two programs stand. They are the premier high school football programs in New Orleans, and right now they are the two best teams in the state. Both enter 8-0. Karr is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A, and St. Aug is No. 2.
They do it in the toughest league in Louisiana. District 9-5A, the old Catholic League, is a gauntlet every week. Rummel, Jesuit, Brother Martin and the rest are good football teams. This season they are all chasing the same two schools.
The talent on this field is staggering. Crescent City Sports counts roughly 40 to 45 college prospects between the two rosters, and more than 100 college recruiters are expected in the stands. Think about that. Coaches from across the country will be in City Park on a Friday night to watch Black teenagers from New Orleans play football at the highest level in the state.
St. Aug vs Karr: Does St. Aug Finally Have the Quarterback?
Keith Wilson knows St. Aug football. He is a true Purple Knights fan, and he is the public address announcer in the stadium. He sees every snap, and he believes this year is different.
“This is the first time that St. Aug has the better quarterback in the game. I think that’s why St. Aug wins.”
— Keith Wilson, St. Aug stadium PA announcer
That quarterback is Jaelle Noble, a 6-1, 200-pound sophomore who already holds an offer from Tulane. Against Jesuit, Noble had 314 yards of offense and threw two touchdown passes after St. Aug trailed at halftime. A week later he piled up 327 all-purpose yards against Brother Martin.
He also has weapons. Rayquan Williams is a Tulane commit, Miquel Whitley is headed to Ole Miss, and Derrick Barnett runs the 100 meters in 10.8 seconds. Give Noble time, and somebody on that list will be open.
Karr has gone with two quarterbacks this season, Marlon Jones and Forrest Johnson. Both can play. Neither is John Johnson, who ran for four touchdowns against St. Aug in last year’s title game and is now gone.
Roy Cyprian graduated from St. Aug in 1979, the last year the Purple Knights won a state championship. He still goes to every game, home or away, and he is fired up.
“This is the first time we have more talent on both sides of the ball and special teams. It will be a hard-fought battle, but St. Aug ends their streak.”
— Roy Cyprian, St. Aug Class of 1979
Karr Still Owns the Trenches
Not everybody is ready to crown St. Aug. Norvel Chester has watched enough of this rivalry to know where it gets decided.
“Karr still has the bigger linemen, and that could be the deciding factor.”
— Norvel Chester, St. Aug Class of 1980
The numbers back him up. Karr’s offensive line includes Ryan Harper, a 6-6, 350-pound tackle, along with 6-6 Marquise Lambert and 6-5 Zyion Wesley. On defense, Karr can throw 6-5, 270-pound end Juelz Batiste and 300-pound tackle Edward “Hulk” Dailey at the St. Aug quarterback.
St. Aug’s biggest lineman, guard Elijah Menville, weighs 290 pounds. Tackle Jayden Taylor stands 6-4 but weighs 255.
That is the whole game in one question. Can St. Aug’s offensive line keep Noble clean long enough for him to find his receivers? If the answer is yes, the Purple Knights have the playmakers to end the streak. If Karr’s front is living in the St. Aug backfield, the Cougars win their 36th straight and remind everybody why they have owned this rivalry.
Turnovers matter too. St. Aug gave the ball away five times in last year’s title game. You cannot do that against Karr and expect to survive.
Black Excellence in City Park
The football is only part of the story.
Long before kickoff, City Park will fill up. Grills will be going, music will be playing, and families will spread out across the park in purple and gold and in Karr colors. Alumni from both schools will spend the whole day talking trash to each other, the way only old rivals who respect each other can.
We saw it last December outside the Superdome, when thousands of fans turned a championship game into a celebration of Black joy and culture. Expect the same on Friday. Then the Marching 100 and the Karr band take the field, and everybody remembers why this matchup belongs to the whole city.
This is the New Orleans that rarely makes the evening news. Two Black-led schools, built by and for our community, sitting on top of the toughest league in Louisiana. Young men who are disciplined, gifted and headed to college. Generations of families sharing the same tradition. We have called it Black excellence on the big stage before, and it still fits.
The forecast calls for temperatures in the 70s with a 30% chance of rain. Bring an umbrella just in case, and get there early.
The Verdict
St. Aug has the quarterback. St. Aug has the receivers. For the first time in a long time, St. Aug fans believe they have the better team, and they may be right.
But Karr has the size, the streak and two straight championships. Champions do not give up their crown. You have to take it.
Here is my call. If St. Aug’s offensive line holds up, St. Aug wins and the Catholic League has a new king. If it doesn’t, Karr wins its 36th straight and this rivalry heads toward another December meeting in the Dome.
Either way, New Orleans wins on Halloween night.
Related reading at BSM: St. Aug vs. Karr: Black Excellence on the Big Stage | St. Aug vs Karr: Inside the Black Joy and Culture That Took Over the Dome
About the Author
Jeff Thomas is the founder and publisher of Black Source Media and the owner of WBOK 1230 AM in New Orleans. He is also CEO of Fenix AI and leads Total Computer Solutions and Services, a New Orleans IT firm that has served government agencies for 30 years. He writes about New Orleans and Louisiana politics, power and accountability.
Sources
- Crescent City Sports: St. Augustine, Edna Karr bring wealth of talent to Halloween showdown at Tad Gormley (Oct. 25, 2026)
- Crescent City Sports: CCS Top 10s, Week 9
- High School on SI: Louisiana Top 25 rankings (Oct. 21, 2026)
- Crescent City Sports: Karr completes second straight perfect season with title win over St. Aug (Dec. 13, 2025)
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