By Kyle Roberts
MONROE, La. – Last season, Ruston held on to a one-point overtime win at the Lions’ Den on the campus of Ouachita High School.
This season, there was never a doubt from the opening whistle who would win between these two teams as the Ruston Bearcats (8-1, 4-0 District 2-5A) completely dominated the Ouachita Lions (4-5, 2-2 District 2-5A) on all sides of the football by a final score of 47-13.
“I thought we came out ready to play,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “I thought the kids did a great job being competitive and they played hard. I’m disappointed with a few mistakes we made in the first half that we need to clean up. I talked to them about that at halftime. We kind of sputtered around on offense to start the second half and maybe got comfortable. But I thought our defense kept plugging. I thought we had a good plan all around; we’ll try to keep working to clean up some of those things, and hopefully we’ll get those things done so we can play well next week.”
After both teams punts in the first quarter, Ouachita found itself starting a drive at its one-yard line. On the first play of that drive, the Ruston defense hauled junior running back Carldell Sirmons down in his own end zone for a safety, and the Bearcats took a 2-0 lead with 7:25 to go in the first quarter.
On the ensuring Bearcat drive, senior running back Dyson Fields carried the entire load by himself on the 40-yard drive that capped off with a one-yard touchdown rush for Fields to give Ruston a 9-0 lead. In his return game after taking care of a leg injury, Fields finished with 105 yards on the ground with two touchdowns on 23 carries.
The Bearcats exploded offensively in the second quarter to add 21 points to their lead before halftime. First, junior fullback/linebacker Jadon Mayfield pushed through for a one-yard touchdown with 9:16 to go in the second quarter; shortly after, Mayfield tore off a 43-yard touchdown run with 4:35 to go before halftime. Finally, sophomore running back Jordan Hayes joined the fun with a 68-yard touchdown run with 1:50 on the clock in the second quarter. Ouachita added a quick score before halftime, and the Bearcats took a large lead into the halftime locker room 30-7.
From a scoring perspective, Ruston only put three points up in the third quarter with a 27-yard field goal from senior kicker RJ Brown, who also was perfect kicking extra points on the night. In the fourth quarter, Fields added his second touchdown of the night from one-yard out.
After Ouachita was forced to punt later in the quarter, senior Trey Williams ran the ball back for a 35-yard touchdown return that sent the Bearcat sideline into euphoria. A late Lion touchdown would prove meaningless as Ruston topped Ouachita for the 47-13 final score.
Ruston has beaten Ouachita every year since 2015.
The win for the Bearcats sets up a showdown at James Field at “Hoss” Garrett Stadium for Friday, Nov. 4, when the West Monroe Rebels come to play only their second road contest of the season. Both teams have one loss apiece and will be playing for an outright district title.
For Ruston, winning out this season could propel the Bearcats to one of the top two seeds in the Power Rankings as the playoff picture is becoming more crystallized. The top four seeds in the new format will receive a first round bye.
