St. Paul’s Wolves open the season at home tonight hosting the Karr Cougars with kickoff set for 7 o’clock at Hunter Stadium.

St. Paul’s fell to Archbishop Rummel 21-8 in the Fontainebleau Jamboree, while Karr downed Higgins 20-7 last Friday in the Westbank Optimist Classic played at West Jefferson.

Karr finished 7-4 last season advancing to the regional round of the state playoffs falling to Northside 34-31.

St. Paul's senior linebacker Jeff Pearce hauls down Archbishop Rummel's Amahad Brown during the Fontainebleau Jamboree last Friday. (File Photo by Gwen Ladner)

St. Paul’s head coach Ken Sears said his club would have its work cut out for it this week going against an explosive and physical Karr team.

“Karr is a very tough team. Physically, they are probably one of the biggest teams we have faced in a while. They have tremendous speed and have a great quarterback (Legaux) along with a couple college prospects on defense,” Sears said.

“We have to play mistake free football and we can’t have the errors in special teams that we had in the jamboree,” Sears added.

St. Paul’s gave up two punt return touchdowns by Rummel’s Carvin Johnson covering 65 and 60 yards.

“We have to correct those special teams mistakes. We worked on that aspect this week in practice and hopefully we have it corrected.”

Sears said his offense would have to sustain drives to keep the ball out of Karr’s talented quarterback’s hands.

“We want to be able to limit their offensive opportunities. They have big play potential on offense with some talented receivers and a big offensive line. Their backs also do a great job. They run hard and are physical as well,” Sears said.

Sears said his junior quarterback Alec Duncan would have to manage the game and take care of the football.

“I think Alec has to pick his spots. Karr has a fast defense and they are very opportunistic. The key for Alec is to make good, quick decisions.”

Duncan went 7-of-13 for 36 yards last week. Duncan engineered a six-play, 56-yard drive culminating in a 10-yard TD toss to Mikhail Washington on the Wolves’ third drive.

The junior running back tandem of Washington and Stephon Smith will be counted on to jump start the Wolves’ running game against Karr.

Washington picked up 39 yards on five carries, while Smith gained 28 yards on five rushes. Washington caught two passes for 11 yards, while Smith had two receptions for nine yards.

Defensively last week, the Wolves’ senior end Houston Bates recorded four tackles with two sacks and he caused a fumble. He also had a stop for a loss. Defensive back Stephen Smith registered four solo stops with an assist. Defensive end Matt Johnson contributed three individual tackles with an assist, while Mickey Johnson was in on three tackles including two stops for losses. Linebacker Tyler Tourelle had two individual tackles and was credited with three assists.

Karr head coach Jabbar Juluke who is in his seventh season with the Cougars has 15 seniors on this year’s roster with half of them starting.

“We’re young, but we have an opportunity to do some good things. We have some talented young players. Going against a good St. Paul’s team will give us a good test,” Juluke said.

The Cougars run a pro style offense led by senior quarterback Munchie Legaux (6-4, 190) featuring senior running back Joshua Perry (5-10, 200) and junior Justin Raymond (5-10, 185).

Senior wide receivers Kenneth Gausman (6-1, 190) and Keenan Canty (5-9, 175) are the Cougars go-to-guys in the passing game. Junior linebacker Matthew Bailey (5-10, 200) and senior defensive end Dwayne Mitchell (6-2, 220) are the Cougars’ leading tacklers.

Coach Juluke described St. Paul’s as a good football team overall and said his club can’t afford to turn the ball over.

“They have an outstanding defense with No. 94 (Bates) and 99 (Johnson) who are two pretty good football players. Our offensive line has to do a good job against those two so we can try to move the ball,” Juluke said. “St. Paul’s offense is pretty good as well. They have a couple good backs (Washington and Smith) so we have to focus on stopping them in the running game.”