For the first time in James Field at Garrett Stadium in nearly two years, the Ruston Bearcats (2-1) were practically flawless on the field to shut out the Airline Vikings by a final score of 50-0 in front of the 2021 Homecoming Crowd.
“I think we were really focused tonight,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “We played really hard in the first half, and we wanted to match that in the second half. We played from the word “go” even with the rain and all of the homecoming festivities.”
The ballgame proved to never be in doubt as Ruston turned an early first quarter turnover by Airline into a one-yard touchdown rush by junior running back Dyson Fields, who finished the night with another spectacular game in the stats book at 236 yards rushing with four touchdowns. Junior quarterback Jaden Osborne finished the night with 4-for-6 passing for 50 yards and a 19-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Dawson Willis.
Ruston never relented and ended up leading 23-0 at halftime before going on to score 27 second half points to win 50-0. In the fourth quarter, Baugh got to see what every coach wants: his younger players on both sides of the football get some quality playing time live.
“We got to see some young guys make some good plays tonight,” Baugh said. “You want to see how well they do in live situations, and our guys got out there and got after it.”
Despite the rain, the 1990 National and State Championship Bearcat football team was honored with a tribute in the second quarter. All eyes in the stands were on the video board for a special presentation for the last Ruston team to win a state title.
“It was great to be here with the 1990 National Championship team for homecoming,” Baugh said. “We could have had many reasons not to play well tonight with all of the potential distractions, but we overcame and played in front of a great crowd tonight.”
Ruston returns to action Friday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. at home. The game will be broadcast live on KXKZ 107.5 FM at 7 p.m. with the pregame show starting at 6 p.m.
Photo credit: Reggie McLeroy
