By Kyle Roberts
Ruston High returns home tonight to take on the Neville Tigers is a storied rivalry that is around a century old.
Both teams enter the contest with 3-1 records; Ruston lost its season opening contest in overtime against Warren Easton, while Neville dropped a week two contest against Ruston’s fellow District 2-5A member Ouachita.
“The last couple of years it’s come down to the wire,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “They won on a Hail Mary last season, but the year before came down to a Hail Mary on our end. You can really take the records and rankings out of it. As long as this game has been played, it’s a really tough ballgame nine times out of ten. I think our kids understand that. It’s been interesting to see how the kids are going to come back after a big win and regroup.”
Ruston is coming off a 35-20 victory on the road last week against Lafayette Christian Academy. After trailing 14-7 at halftime, Ruston recovered back-to-back onside kicks which both led to touchdowns.
Senior tailback Dyson Fields also had a superb game with 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
“It’s been interesting to see how the kids have come back after big wins,” Baugh said. “That’s something that will matter in the playoffs. When you have a big win, you have to get past it and regroup to get ready for the next week. Neville is a very good football team. It’s not going to be any different from any other year; it’s just different guys with different numbers. At the end of the day, we know they’ll be ready to come over here and play, and hopefully our guys are prepared well enough to match that.”
Ruston and Neville will kickoff at 7 p.m. Fans can listen to the Jerrod Baugh show at 6:30 p.m. on Z107.5 FM and streamed live on BearcatNationNetwork.com.
