CLASS 4A SEMIS: Catholic, BTW coaches have long-term bond heading into Friday

Coach Kirk Johnson and BTW coach L.A. O’Neal have a close relationship heading into Friday’s Class 4A matchup. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

L.A. O’Neal and Kirk Johnson talk to each other a lot during the football season, but don’t expect either coach to pick up the phone this week. 

O’Neal, now in his third year at Booker T. Washington, and Johnson, now in his third year at Catholic, are busy preparing for a game against the other on Friday night at Catholic in the semifinals of the 4A state playoffs. Any other week, they’d be calling each other for a conversation. 

“We’re just bouncing stuff off each other,” O’Neal said. “We’re both defensive guys and we play similar opponents, so we ask each other what you’ve seen if we’ve played somebody they’re about to play or if they’ve played somebody we’re about to play.”

“We talk to each other too much,” Johnson said. “We share thoughts on each team each week and I’ve been encouraging him as he’s journeyed through the playoffs.”

The two were defensive coordinators when they first clashed, O’Neal at Pike Road and Johnson at Catholic. The two faced each other in the Kickoff Classic at Cramton Bowl in 2020 and while the game itself was an offensive shootout, both admired the defensive tactics of their opponent. 

“Looking at the way his defense played and the way my guys played, it was a similar style of defense,” O’Neal said. “We like a physical defense. As far as taking tidbits here and there, I took a couple of tidbits but he took something from me, too.”

Johnson was an immediate success at Catholic, guiding the Knights to a 39-2 record and three consecutive trips to the semifinals of the state playoffs over the past three seasons. For O’Neal, the journey was a bit more difficult. He had to change the culture in a program where losing was the norm and a trip to the state playoffs was almost unheard of. 

After three years, the results are easy to see. Booker T. Washington has won a school-record nine games this season and won multiple playoff games for the first time in the 33-year history of the program. Already, O’Neal’s 13 region wins over the last three years make him the winningest coach in school history in that department and has elevated his name among the most prominent in the state as administrators search to fill coaching vacancies.

“I tell them every week in spite of whether we win or lose, I’m proud of my guys because they’ve put the work in consistently and that goes beyond the football field,” O’Neal said. “Everything in life, you’re going to have to consistently work hard if you want to have something in this life. To see them show up to practice consistently and put in the work, it’s just paying dividends.”

Now, only his friend’s program is standing between the Golden Eagles and a trip to the Super 7 Championships. Booker T. Washington and Catholic already played once this season, with the Knights rolling to a 56-6 victory on Sept. 8.

“Our preparation is don’t shoot ourselves in the foot like we did in Week 3,” O’Neal said. “We were looking for a really good game and the game was closer than the scoreboard indicated. You take away those five turnovers we had… 

“So the preparation is on protecting the ball, continue to do what we do, play solid football and at the end of the game the chips will fall where they may.”

Johnson said, despite the impressive run through the 4A playoffs, the Golden Eagles don’t look any different than they did in September.

“They’re still a solid team, like they were the first time,” he said. “They’re still playing hard, still have some of the better athletes in the state. It was a challenge then, it’s going to be a challenge now.”

Both teams feature electrifying playmakers at quarterback. Booker T. Washington’s EJ Hall is one of the most dynamic players in the state that a lot of fans may have missed because he isn’t playing on a high-profile team. Hall missed two games late in the season with a broken left wrist.

“(O’Neal) got one of his better players hurt and I thought his season would come to a stalemate,” Johnson said. “But EJ’s battled back, got a cast on and is playing phenomenal football. He was one of my first selections in the all-star game (as the head coach for the North-South game). I’m proud of that kid for doing what he’s doing.”

Catholic will counter with Caleb McCreary who, like Hall, is a four-year starter who can take over a game with his elusive running ability. The Troy commitment has thrown for 9,357 yards and 124 touchdowns in his career while rushing for 2,289 yards and 34 touchdowns. The past two years, his season has come to an abrupt halt in the semifinals, a trend he would like to break on Friday night.

“Everybody wants to be playing at this time of year,” McCreary said. “Everybody’s watching around the state. Around these parts (at Catholic), it’s just the standard. We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low, we just try to keep a level head and play ball when the opportunity comes.

“Once you go through some things so many times, it starts getting repetitive and you want to break that cycle. We never intentionally get to this point and not want to get to state, but we just need to slow down and win the moment.”

O’Neal’s defense has allowed 56 points each time his team has faced the Knights in the regular season the last two years. The last meeting, in September, got out of hand as Rickie Williams and Garrett Sanford both had interception returns for touchdowns. 

“They’ve always been a hard-playing, well-coached team,” McCreary said. “We had a great game plan and had the upper hand. We just played hard that night. We don’t really focus on the past, we just look ahead and they’ve been playing some good football lately.”

“We’ve been preaching to our team that if we just eliminate shooting ourselves in the foot, it’s going to be hard for any team in the state to beat us,” O’Neal said. “And this playoff run has been one that we just haven’t been hurting ourselves.”