As the clock wound down to two seconds remaining, Ruston High School head football coach Jerrod Baugh was fully confident in his kicker.
That confidence paid great dividends as senior Brady Beason split the uprights with room to spare Friday night at James Field at Garrett Stadium from 41 yards out to best the Carencro Golden Bears by a final score of 38-35, sending the home fans into jubilation and the Bearcats to a 3-1 record on the year and their third victory in a row.
“It took everyone to win this one,” Baugh said. “Early on, it looked like an offensive battle between two good teams, and we played better in the second half.”
With the score tied at 35, the Bearcats made one final 12-play drive to the Bear 24 yard line in the final minutes of regulation. A perfect snap and a perfect hold gave Beason the setup for a Hollywood ending.
”The kids executed what they needed to do,” Baugh said. “I believed in Brady, and he earned that tonight.”
All night, the two historic programs traded scoring blows back and forth. Neither team was able to take a two-score lead for the entire night. Carencro led 14-7 after the first quarter before the Bearcats took to the halftime locker room tied at 21. The third quarter saw Ruston take its first lead of the night at the 1:25 mark with an 8-yard touchdown run by junior running back Dyson Fields, who ended the night with 227 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Junior Jaden Osborne added 185 yards on the ground with two rushing scores, along with a touchdown strike through the air to Fields for a 33 yard score.
Senior linebacker Brilun Elmore led the Bearcat defense with nine tackles and one sack on the night.
“This is what we talked about all week,” Baugh said. “We needed to win first downs and make adjustments on the line defensively. It ended up working out for us. Our students showed up and cheered their hearts out; our kids noticed it.”
Ruston returns to action Friday, Oct. 1, to take on another state champion from last season in the St. Thomas More Cougars. It will be the final non-district game for the Bearcats before they begin District 2-5A play on Friday, Oct. 8
The will be broadcast live on KXKZ 107.5 FM with the pregame show starting at 6 p.m. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
PHOTO CREDIT: Reggie McLeroy
