By Kyle Roberts
Thanks to both a grueling non-district schedule and an impressive 9-1 overall record in the regular season, the District 2-5A Champion Ruston Bearcats officially learned Sunday morning that they will be the overall No. 1 seed in the Non-Select Division I playoffs.
Due to the new format voted on by the LHSAA early in the season, only 28 teams will make the playoffs in Ruston’s division, meaning the top four seeds will receive a first round bye.
“It’s been a rough ten weeks as far as the quality of the teams that we have played,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “The kids have handled it really well. We had a couple of injuries last week in practice, and I think it will be convenient to have this week for those guys to heal up. It will be good to have a week off for those situations.”
Ruston will host the winner of No. 16 Hahnville and familiar district opponent and No. 17 Ouachita Parish. The Hahnville Tigers finished the season 6-4, while Ouachita finished 5-5 overall. Ruston and Ouachita already faced off earlier this season in Week 9 when Ruston handily defeated the Lions on the road by a final of 47-13.
Furthering this special season for the Ruston Bearcats was the end of the three decade losing streak to the West Monroe Rebels in Week 10 by a final score of 35-17. A possible rematch is on the table for the semi-finals between the Bearcats and Rebels if both teams make it that far.
Ruston is guaranteed home playoff games in the second round and the semi-finals. Depending on how the bracket shakes out, Ruston could also host in the quarterfinals, as well.
For Baugh, right now the plan is to stay focused even without a game on the schedule this week.
“I’m proud for the kids for earning that bye-week in the first round,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “Even though it won’t be a week off of practice, we’ve earned the bye-week. I’m proud of the kids and what they’ve done to accomplish that. I know our kids will stay focused and know what they need to take care of. I set up a practice schedule for us, and we’ll look at video from the West Monroe game and evaluate that.”
