By Kyle Roberts

What began as a defensive struggle for both teams turned into an instant classic style finish for the Ruston Bearcats (5-0) as two separate three-yard touchdown runs by junior quarterback Josh Brantley proved to be the difference Friday night as Ruston topped Neville 14-10 at Bill Ruple Stadium.

Ruston High now enters District 2-5A play next week with a perfect record after a night that no fan for either team will forget with the Bearcat defense stopping drives and making plays when needed.

“We’re playing really well defensively and we needed to hold on long enough to figure out what we needed to do offensively,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said. “We got some things figured out because (Neville was) moving the front around. I thought our guys up front handled that really well.

“And then Josh made some really big, tough runs and got into a rhythm. I think their guys defensively got a little bit gassed at the end and we took advantage of that.”

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Those tough runs paid off with 0:38 left to go in the ballgame as Brantley muscled his way into the end zone with a three-yard touchdown run to put Ruston up 14-10 and effectively sealed the deal for the Bearcats.

The winning touchdown was set up by a muffed punt that was recovered at the Neville 29-yard line by deep snapper Joe Morrow with 2:41 left to play.

After being held scoreless for the first 41 minutes of the night, Ruston finally got onto the scoreboard with 7:06 left to play with a seven-play, 67-yard drive, capped off by Brantley’s first touchdown of the night.

A key play during the first scoring drive was a play action out of the shotgun that led to a long completion to sophomore fullback Lander Smith to get into Neville territory.

“As the season is going along, the experience (Brantley) is gaining is very valuable in respect to the level of competition that he’s had to do that against; it’s really remarkable,” Baugh said. “I know it gets frustrating when we’re not scoring many points, but he’s doing a very good job and growing. I think that’s only going to give him confidence in the throwing game.”

Ruston’s receiving corps was down both senior wide outs Zhy Scott and Logan Malone.

Neville’s defense for the most part rendered Ruston’s rushing game ineffective until Brantley took over with his run attack in the fourth quarter. Brantley would rush 17 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

Baugh attributed Ruston’s success tonight in large part to remaining steady despite trailing for a majority of the night.

“One thing we harp on in particular is not getting rattled,” Baugh said. “That’s the way you have to be, regardless of what calls are made or how frustrating it can be; you can’t let those things affect what the rest of the game looks like.”

Defensively, junior linebacker Zheric Hill finished with nine tackles on the night and broke up a critical pass on Neville’s last drive to set up fourth down. Senior linebacker Jaden Mayfield finished with five tackles and a sack on the night.

Neville scored all of its points in the second quarter and took a 10-0 lead into halftime before the Bearcats scored their 14-unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Ruston returns to action Friday, Oct. 6, at The Hoss for 2023’s homecoming matchup with Alexandria Senior High. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.