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Bests of the Catholic League are not Catholic teams
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By Ron Brocato
Clarion Herald Sports
With the credentials of 106 victories and three state championships in the 1970s, Otis Washington has (rightfully) been immortalized as St. Augustine’s greatest head football coach, although he ranks second in total victories.The Purple Knight coach with the most career victories was one of Otis’ protégés: Tony Biagas, whose teams won 131 games with just 57 losses between 1986 and 2002.
Since Biagas’ departure after failing to live up to the high bar set by Washington, St. Augustine has seen seven successors as head coach. Although they’ve mentored many top-grade college athletes, none has been able to match the legacy Washington and Biagas created.
Biagas once revealed to me during an interview for WLAE’s documentary, “Glory Days: The Catholic League of New Orleans,” of his meeting with legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who visited the St. Aug campus on a recruiting trip.
Realizing the challenges his teams faced every weekend in the Catholic League, Biagas was seeking every advantage at his disposal to be even more successful in the state’s most competitive district.
“While I had Coach Bowden in my office, I wanted to pick his brain,” Biagas said. “So I asked him to diagram a play on the chalkboard that was sure to bring us success. He picked up the chalk and wrote, ‘GET GREAT PLAYERS.’ It was as simple as that.”
But times have changed in this storied league. Today Biagas is director of athletic services at City Park, and his alma mater is still seeking a championship in the state’s largest football division in which St. Aug has accrued a so-so 13-14 record in the playoffs.
And only Edna Karr has a handful of players that might fit Bowden’s description.
Taking a back seat
The leaders in the current District 9-5A – a.k.a. the Catholic League – are not Catholic schools. John Curtis and newly added Karr are the district frontrunners that will meet on Nov. 4 to determine the 2022 district champion.
Neither Curtis nor Karr is the Select Division I top seed at this point based on power rankings. Curtis ranks No. 3 behind Warren Easton and Catholic of Baton Rouge, and Karr sits at No. 15 after having forfeited three early-season wins.
But have no doubt about it: Karr is the best of this bunch, having clobbered Easton, 67-20, only to have the decision wiped out by a forfeit.
Nevertheless, St. Augustine, which fell victim to Karr’s talent by a similar lopsided score of 49-7 on Sept. 24, is the best of the Catholic bunch in 9-5A. Under third-year head coach Nick Foster, the Purple Knights have the best record among their parochial counterparts at 3-2 entering the ninth week of the season. Brother Martin, their final opponent of the regular season, and Archbishop Rummel have 2-2 district records.
Ironically, Jesuit and Holy Cross, which will have met for 100 consecutive years on Oct. 28, have 2-6 district records and will be playing for sixth and seventh places.
The last time the rivalry was marred by losing records was 2008, when both entered their clash with 1-2 records.
Yes, how times have changed.
Kudos to Cavs, Comets
Although they hardly get the credit they deserve, the heroes of the 2022 football season are the teams from De La Salle and St. Charles Catholic, both of which have keynote finales to the season.
De La Salle (8-0) can end the regular season with a perfect record and the No. 1 seed in Select Division II by beating McMain (0-8) on Oct. 29 and B.T. Washington (3-5) on Nov. 3. And that shouldn’t be a difficult task for a team that has marquee wins over the likes of St. Paul’s, St. Charles Catholic and two Mississippi playoff contenders, North Pike and Jefferson Davis.
But to get to the title game, the Cavaliers will face stern tests against No. 2 Teurlings Catholic, No. 3 St. Thomas More or No. 4 E.D. White (all 7-1) in the playoffs.
St. Charles Catholic, the reigning Select Division III champion, has a more difficult path to the Dec. 10 championship game in the Dome. The Comets, currently seeded at No. 2 behind Newman, face the Greenies in the season finale on Nov. 4 before an expected full house at Newman’s Lupin Stadium.
But before that clash, the Comets will play another road game at Country Day, the No. 8 seed in Division III, on Oct. 28. They won’t play at home again until the playoffs.
Looking ahead, St. Charles could reunite with No. 3 Dunham or No. 4 Notre Dame, both of which the Comets beat en route to the 2021 state title. Their finals opponent, Lafayette Christian, moved out of the division.