(COVINGTON, La.) — Football is back in Hunter Stadium. The St. Paul’s Wolves kick off their season against the Edna Karr Cougars, the defending back to back state champions.  Last year, the Cougars beat the Wolves 42-23. The Wolves intend to seek revenge against the top team in the state.

COUGAR’S PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Edna Karr cruised to the 4A state championship last year winning 48-26 beating the Lakeshore Titans. The Cougars are projected a perfect 15-0 record for the 2018-19 season. Two new quarterbacks for the Cougars will be competing for playing time before the game against St. Paul’s this Friday. Leonard Kelly, junior quarterback, will make his first start of his high school career. In the Jamboree game he threw a 59 and 67 yard touchdown and propelled the offense to a win against West Jefferson. Devin Bush, a four-star recruit, will be the top returning starter from the previous years team. The back to back state champions are trying to take a third one home in a row.

Edna Karr scored all 20 of their points in the first half of the Jamboree. The first play of the game, Kelly threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to junior Receiver Khalfani Simmons. Simmons lead the way for the receivers catching two passes for 126 yards, and he scored on both of his catches. Kelly went 9-19 passing the ball with 203 yards and two touchdowns for the Cougars’ offense.

ST. PAUL’S PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

After a heartbreaking loss to John Curtis, the Wolves plan on having their best year yet. Though the Wolves went 7-5 last year, their play improved greatly by the end of the season. This team has the potential to make the state championship game in the December. St. Paul’s is the second favorite to win the District 6-5A title, behind the Slidell Tigers. This match-up against Edna Karr will be one of the toughest games for the Wolves all year.

Senior Jack Mashburn, is poised for another stellar year playing quarterback for the Wolves. Last season, Mashburn totaled  2,163 yards and 15 total touchdowns. Returning duo Nick Stanton and Will Robinson totaled 854 receiving yards last season. The running backs coming back had less than 100 total yards last year, but have a solid group who impressed over the spring. Carter Elie, junior running back, will make the start against the Cougars. The offensive line will be bringing back four starters from last year with seniors Owen Hnatyshyn, Matthew Algero, Jared Kreeger, and Bear Palazzo.

The defense for the Wolves is bringing in a plethora of new faces, but retain a number of old starters. Spencer Fox and Jordan Eberts are returning starters for the defensive line. The linebackers are a solid group with Michael Phillippe and Austin Holincheck. The defensive backs are the deepest group returning from last year with Robert Buquoi, Wayne Galloway and Kyle Conigliaro returning. The defense will try to slow down one of the fastest, highest-scoring teams in the state.

The Wolves dropped last weeks Jamboree to the Rummel Raiders, 7-3. The Wolves defense was the shining point of the game for St. Paul’s, holding the Raiders to only one touchdown for the whole game. The Raiders opened up the game driving 76 yards down the field, and capped it off with a 2-yard quarterback sneak from senior Chandler Fields. Fields did not miss on the first drive, but had trouble finding his receivers the rest of the night. The Wolves answered back with a 32-yard field goal by junior William Grand for the only points of the night for St. Paul’s. The Raiders defense forced three turnovers which halted many of the Wolves’ drives. During the last drive of the game, junior quarterback Caleb Frost threw an interception which led to the Raiders running the clock out. Frost finished the game with 137 passing yards going 10 for 18 with one interception. Will Robinson led the Wolves with eight receptions and 83 yards. Nick Stanton ended the game with 51 yards on three catches. Carter Elie rushed for 33 yards on 16 carries.